At 26 I felt like I had anti-climaxed in my path in life and went from high to low very quickly…the low lasted too long and fed up of being at the bottom I had to start things up again. It was like I went back in time- handing out CVs in shopping malls - and I almost felt ashamed and then I looked up and saw I wasn’t the only one walking around with an A4 plastic wallet, I sucked it in, looked my best and walked around with a smile reminding myself that money is money and some money was better than sitting in the Job centre reporting to some dude who didn’t care about me and the fact that I was unemployed, he was getting paid still. So there I was trying hard and eventually I got my lucky break and it was all day everyday retail slave labour on minimum wage. Worked my ass off and didn’t have 1 weekend to myself to rest. I decided that if I had spent that long doing nothing and being depressed, that I would spend every minute now working hard and getting myself back on top form.
My post graduate started 4 months later. I decided to go back to school and do an event management training course, since I was starting fresh as my options for more money were limited. I put my head down and attended class everyday and again found I was not alone in my path to success, I get my grade in a couple of weeks - I deserve a distinction... I’ve done some more volunteering and continue to put myself forward for free work, to gain experience, new skills and meet new people who I shake hands with in the hopes that they might be my next big break. Never for get your Ps and Qs, don’t loose your attitude and be polite with everyone because if someone tries to stomp on your day with them bad attitude you wouldn’t like it. I've finished my course and I'm now doing an internship for a venue finding agency - I dont like it much and I'm a gloried skivvy in all honesty, but they are giving me some good expeirence and it's only for three months.
Being unemployed or stuck in a rut can be hard, trust me I KNOW – but these little things add up to the big things and while you’re unemployed/stuck in a rut you cant change others – you can change/better yourself, you got all this time to practise. Hope is around the corner, don’t give up hope!