Patience is a virtue. Do we really live by that saying in our society? I would say we do not. We have instant coffee, instant communication, instant entertainment and instant access to a plethora of information via the internet. I am not saying all of the “instants” we are provided with in our society are a bad thing, in fact I believe in many ways it has made our lives easier.
A university student has a research paper to write, he or she no longer needs to slept down to the library, instead all the information can likely be found online via online journals. You are meeting someone for dinner and are ten minutes late. Well, just take out your cell phone and text them, as opposed to ten years ago, where the person would be standing around for ten minutes wondering if you were on your way. However, all of these “instants” do come with a price. I would venture to say that we have become less patient as a society. From becoming frustrated by waiting in a five minute line, to feeling a sense of anxiety and frustration when a relationship takes time to develop, we often seem to expect everything to happen now, rather than later.
Which is why being unemployed now is probably much different then being unemployed during the Great Depression was. With different societies come different experiences and I would argue our “instant” society is less apt to deal with extended unemployment. The problem is, extended unemployment is currently the norm, as opposed to the exception. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, in July 2009 the average unemployment duration (in weeks) was 25.1 and the median unemployment duration was 15.7 weeks (the median skewed upward due to outliers on the longer duration of the unemployment scale).
25 or 15 weeks are far from instant. So, what can be done? Remind yourself that successfully working through unemployment is a process, as opposed to an instant result. For example, the process of job searching and applying for jobs often, in addition to building connections, will probably lead to landing a job, however most likely not instantly. Derek Jeter (sorry Red Sox Fans!) was once asked what has made him so successful during his baseball career. He simply said, “I have had a lot more good days then bad.”
Look at unemployment in a similar fashion. If you have a lot of good days (regarding both mental health and job searching techniques) the end product will likely be positive. However, at the end of a week of hard work job searching it is natural and alright to feel a sense of disappointment that you have not received any call backs and that the much sought out job has not been offered yet. At this point, remind yourself that despite our currently societal norms, patience can still be a virtue.
