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Joy Excerpt from Help Wanted Book

“Joy does not simply happen to us. We have to choose joy and keep choosing it every day.”

Henri Nouwen

It may be hard to find joy in the job search or even see joy on the horizon in a new job. Yet each day we have a choice about how to see our life. We can be consumed by the negativity of job search fear or frustration, or we can allow some space to notice a sunset or a child’s laughter. Brief moments of joy can be a respite from the work of finding work. Perhaps we can even stretch to find some joy by answering yes to a networking request or a nugget of wisdom someone shares.

We can, and sometimes must, create our own joy for the sake of our emotional health and for the well-being of those around us whose support we want and need. Experiencing moments of joy can also help a person to be a more desirable job candidate since employers may sense positivity.

So turn on a comedy, gaze at the clouds, listen to music, and hug a child.

Affirmation: I find moments of joy in my life and am grateful.

To order Help Wanted book: https://karenscareercoaching.com/help-wanted/

For 10 free excerpts: https://karenscareercoaching.com/help-wanted-free-excerpts/

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The Kindness Ornament: One of My Favorite Things

As soon as I saw the ornament in the gift shop, I knew I had to buy it. I hoped my 11 year old great niece would humor her 4 year old sister about Santa, and didn’t know where my 8 year old great niece would land.  This Kindness Ornament features daily video messages from a quite believable “Santa” via QR code inviting the listeners to do acts of kindness: give someone a hug, write someone a nice note.  I was totally enthralled when I scanned the QR code on the package and heard Santa explaining about the delightful ornament.  It felt like Christmas magic! It doesn’t matter the age.

Before I share this charming link, my disclaimer is that I don’t get any kickbacks from Santa or the ornament company.  Plus, it’s too late for this year anyhow, purposely.  BUT it’s not too late to be enchanted in the next few days by the same message from Santa that I heard if you CLICK HERE.

Whether you celebrate Christmas, Kwanzaa, Hannukah or Diwali, we can all use some Light and Kindness.  Certainly, the world needs it now.  When we feel helpless in the darkness, at least we can share our own Light through small acts of Kindness.  What might your inner Santa be calling on YOU to do today?

As if I wasn’t already enamored by this topic, here’s a picture of what was in the restroom of the restaurant where I had dinner with my granddaughter this week:

Thank you for your kindness in taking time to read my reflections.  Warm wishes to you for the holiday season to treat yourself and others with kindness now and in the coming year.

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Common Career Concerns: My India Connections and Reflections

I’ve been reflecting this month on my trip to India in 2015 and some of the common career issues that came up when visiting the school my church has been sponsoring since 2003. After conversations about this, the principal invited me to speak with the 9th and 10th grade students, which was a fun surprise and challenge. Yep, that’s my photo of them.  It all reminds me that as different as groups may be with language and culture, we have quite a bit in common….something helpful for us to remember about humanity.

One shared pattern was the influence and wishes of parents on their children’s education and future.  I certainly hear this with at least half of my career counseling clients.  In India I learned of two divergent parental influences.  In this poor, rural farming village, I learned many parents were discouraging their sons from finishing higher grades since they were needed on the farm.  On the other end of the spectrum, I met a mother who said she would go without food to pay for school expenses.  This mother was so proud of how many of her children later became teachers!

Another common thread was about whether school seems relevant to the tasks of actually earning a living.  I remembered hearing frequently from engineering students at Carnegie Mellon who thought many of their courses would not be used and were simply hoops to go through.  In the case of the India farming community, I was coached to share with students that a good education would enable them to write farming grants and that math would be needed to make calculations for crop planting calculations and efficiency.

A third common thread was the idea of nepotism and networking.  I recall hearing that in India, it very difficult to get a job in the government unless you are related to someone.  Here in the United States, I naturally encourage networking as a job search strategy with a 50-80% success rate. Networking is simply a foot in the door to get an interview. Hopefully in both countries, the employer wants to hire someone who can actually do the job well.

The reason I have been reflecting on my India experience is that I spent the last three months helping launch a crowdsource funding campaign for a rainwater harvesting facility for the school so students can have water with every meal.  I hope you will take a moment to read the article that follows this.

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