Being let go from your job stirs up all sorts of emotions and makes you feel like the Road Runner is circling your gut. You begin re-evaluating yourself and setting the stage for a massive self-improvement overhaul. Personally, I constantly wondered “What’s going to make someone else hire me?”, “Will they see through me?”, “Do I have what it takes?”, “Can I handle this stress?”, etc. etc. etc. It kept me up at night and created huge distractions.
I don’t know about you, but all those feelings led me to embrace a lot of self-help tools. My magazines became my guide. O The Magazine was always a source of inspiration or deep introspection. Cosmo gave me quizzes. Redbook taught me how to be happy. I also turned to the Bible, The Secretand Joel Osteen’s weekly broadcasts at midnight (I know, I know).
I obsessively checked my horoscope on every Web site I could find. I not only read the daily updates, I read the money ‘scope, the love ‘scope and the monthly and yearly horoscopes. I read them sometimes twice a day. The Web became my virtual therapist’s office, ready at anytime to provide me with endless tips and information on how I can be a better “me”.
Even though I have a job now, I still wake up feeling antsy and somewhat nauseated, and I bring that to work. So when I’m churning like a whirling dervish, I’ve been turning to what I know.
This week, I had an epiphany. After reading one too many articles about soul searching, happiness and the “law of attraction”, I realized that I’m addicted to this crap! I also began realizing that all this “self-help” is making me a more nervous, skeptical person. Am I doing anything right? Will anything ever go right for me? Of course I am, and of course it will, but first I’ve got to return to my senses, trust my gut more than Dr. Phil and go with it! Therefore, I’ve vowed to take a step back from all this betterment and see if it creates the serenity I need. I’m trying. Really, I am.
Do you ever feel like you’ve had enough self-help and self-improvement?
Miss Pink Slip 
Maybe I should return the book I just bought: “Me 2.0” Totally serious. Love your blog! 🙂
In full disclosure, I just bought a new one, too! Where does the madness end?????
Glad you like the blog. 🙂
Good points all around. Truly apradciptee.
Totally agree! And the other thing the self-help movement does is stop us from getting together with other unemployed people and trying to press for, say, a stimulus package that actually helps us rather than just the banks. We have a great piece about this by an MIT prof in our magazine this issue: http://www.tikkun.org/article.php/sept_oct_09_sharone. He says Americans blame themselves for their unemployment much more than people in other countries and it’s not healthy for us individually or for our economy.
Mmmm yez. I’ve had this problem before as well. It’s hard to find a balance…