In my experience people do a number of things while looking for a job that have reinforced the spiritual side of their brain. In fact, these activities and practices help them find a job with less emotional stress than most other people. There are all kinds of additional things that a person can do, but here are some very important ones.
Be grateful.
I mentioned in the previous chapter about waking up every morning with an attitude of gratitude. I hear you say, “But Tony, you don’t know the troubles that I’ve got.” You are right. I don’t. However, just as Norman Vincent Peale stated many, many years ago, “The only people that don’t have problems are dead.” Be grateful. Just try it. You may think I’m crazy, but it works! Even if you have to try to convince yourself over and over and over to be grateful, do it! Fake it if you have to! Affirmations like “thank you”, “I really appreciate the situation that I’m in”, “ I have so much to be thankful for; I’m so blessed,” feed the spirit.
Be nice.
Sometimes it is really hard to be nice to people, especially when are you in stressful situations. Even when you are emotionally hurting, it helps to go out of your way to be really nice to people when you don’t necessarily feel that way. I’ve known hundreds of employers over the years that purposely kept candidates waiting in the reception area just to see if they were going to be nice to the administrative personnel (what we used to call the secretary). I can’t tell you the number of candidates over the years that did not get hired because they were rude to the support people in the organization where they were interviewing. These same people turn on the charm and come across as nice as you can imagine in the interviewing process. However, they lost out because they were not nice when they didn’t have to be. So, it may not necessarily be your nature to be an outgoing nice person, but do it anyway.
Create flow.
Get rid of the clutter in your house, your garage, your office, your closet, your car, in any space that you occupy. Get rid of all those old clothes in your closet that you hope to fit into one day. If you haven’t used it or worn it in the last year give it away. Create open space in your life and where you live. You will be amazed at the energy that will be released by getting rid of clutter
Practice Forgiveness.
There are a few things that are as spiritually uplifting as forgiving. First, forgive yourself for all the stupid things you have done to yourself and others. Make a small list, it won’t be hard…then accept and let go. Contemplate the lessons you learned. Then begin to forgive other people who might have transgressed you. So make a list of all the people that you can remember whom you have transgressed. Even if the transgression was an accident, call, write, or email those people and ask them for forgiveness. At the same time make a list of all the people that may have transgressed you. Call them, write them, or email them and forgive them. Don’t expect a return call or letter or email. That’s not the point. Your spiritual growth depends on your ability to forgive others and seek forgiveness.
This is especially true if you’re a job seeker. Forgive all those people that you feel haven’t treated you well. Make a list of all of the people who told you they were going to call you back and then didn’t, those who even said they were going to hire you and didn’t or those that lied to you about other stuff. Then, forgive them all. You may not understand all of the problems that they even created for themselves, but you can’t do anything about that. Forgive them.
Forgiveness is the fragrance of the violet left on the heel that crushed it.
-Mark Twain
….more next week
