… and by retirement, I mean unemployment.
When I quit my financial services job in Boston in August 2008 to move home to Chicago, I had no idea how tough the job search would be. I had a job lined up, but the market continued to crumble and the company froze hiring. It was a tough transition, especially at first. Maybe it’s just me, but I never thought I would be that person looking for a job in a miserable economy. But I was that person — I still am that person — and I learned over the past few months that it is perfectly okay.
After I got over the initial frustration of meeting with recruiters and reading about mundane and unappealing jobs online, my outlook on the whole situation lightened quite a bit. One of the biggest challenges for people in today’s job market is staying positive and realizing that sometimes things are simply out of your control. I think it’s important for people to remember that it’s all about having the right mindset.
At the end of September I was still looking for a job, and I started an “early retirement” blog. The truth is that the blog started out as a complete joke, but it’s actually been a pretty fun way to make light of the fact that I am unemployed and have all day to literally do anything I want. My friends find it amusing (at least they pretend to) and encourage me to document some of the random occurrences of my fun-filled — and boring — days of early retirement.
Blog topics have ranged from daily food consumption, to awkward encounters with females at the gym, to the time when I woke up and thought there was a burglar in the house and nearly attacked my father, who had not left for work yet, with a sand wedge. There are many great perks of being retired/unemployed, but one of my personal favorites is having the time to do things I didn’t have time to do when I was working.
One day in early winter I was shooting hoops at the gym and decided that I wanted to increase my vertical leap so I could slam-dunk a basketball. Wait a sec…the 6”1′ white kid who could barely jump over a footlong from Subway and who was cut from the freshmen basketball team to dunk?! Yep. Why? Well, because I have the time.
A buddy of mine let me borrow his old vertical leap performance shoes and I have been working on “Operation Slam Dunk” for the last two months. Some may think this is completely ridiculous — and it is in many ways — but it’s fun and it is something to keep my mind distracted. I’ve even made a couple of YouTube videos documenting my jumping progress.
The point is simple – for those who are in a similar situation, do something with your time. Don’t sit around on the computer all day looking at jobs. That’s not healthy. Or fun. Leave your apartment. Get out and do something you have wanted to do for a while. Take a road trip, reconnect with old friends, learn how to dunk or take up a new hobby like learning to play the fiddle or whatever. No matter what, I think it’s incredibly important for people to take advantage of their newfound free time and have some fun.
By the time I settle into my nexy job, I’ll be able to dunk. What will you be able to claim thanks to your time off?
March 30th, 2009 at 9:21 am
Did your vertical leaping ability help with your grad school apps?
March 31st, 2009 at 9:40 pm
a 6′1 white kid who goes to duke and can barely touch the backboard. Wow I just figured Paulus would have no trouble finding a job after graduation.