I know what you’re thinking. Unemployment is not meant to be enjoyed.
But that can’t be right!
Here’s how I see it: unemployment is just a stage in my life. And life is not infinite. Dwelling on unemployment and living without taking time to enjoy yourself is like wishing your life away. You’ll regret wasting precious time that you’ll never get back.
That said, I honestly can’t understand the people who try to make me feel better by saying things like “Unemployment was the best time of my life” or “You’re so lucky to have so much free time.”. Gah… please stop talking before I lose my cool!
In reality, you can still enjoy life while you’re unemployed, though you’ll have to put vacations and other extravagances aside. You can still spend time with family and friends. You can always take nature walks, explore your city, go to the local swimming hole, and endless other uplifting activities in your hometown. There’s a great big world out there – don’t limit yourself to staring at your laptop screen all day!
My weekend nature walk in beautiful Fredericton, New Brunswick.
What are your favourite activities to do on the cheap?
Elle
I agree, you still need to stop and smell the roses, so to speak, and you do have more free time than you’ve had for a while. Just make sure that quite a lot of that free time is spent constructively, or being unemployed will go on forever.
I;
-slept for 2 months (while on redundancy notice, I may have been a tinsy bit burnt out)
-studied for and gained an extra professional qualification part-time (I’d planned it before I heard about possible redundancies, and decided that I’d do it any way)
-repainted the entire house (with paint I had bought while working but not got around to using)
-had a major clear out of my house as my children have grown up and left home and I will (at some point) be moving to somewhere smaller
-volunteered once a week at an adult learning class to keep my skills up to date (my non-blogging life is teaching maths to adults)
-and started a blog to recognise my creative side that will continue when I’m in work
Good post, fully agree with you. It’s all about perspective – looking for a job as your full-time job, while taking time “after work” to enjoy life!
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