I'll Get By
This whole underemployment thing is not good for my self-esteem. It's hard to really have any respect for yourself when you have been unable to achieve the simplest, most basic requirement of adulthood: getting a job. And especially in DC, where what you do is who you are, every time the inevitable question comes up I feel like a non-person. I hate it. I have wallowed in the Slough of Despond many times over the past year, though I have so far managed to come out again more or less in one piece.
However. All things considered, I still have a pretty nice life. In fact, there are probably millions and millions (possibly even BILLIONS) of people who would be thrilled to trade with me. Perspective is important. In the interest of maintaining that perspective, I have made a very abbreviated list of the good things in my life that I should appreciate more.
1. I am in excellent health. I have no serious health problems. I don't have much in the way of non-serious health problems. I don't even have allergies. I am not on prescribed medication for anything at all, which makes me pretty unique among my acquaintance. And I have health insurance to help keep it that way. (Thanks Dad!)
2. While I don't have a job that interests and challenges me and provides me with a future career and pays off my school debt, I do have one that pays the bills in a minimal sort of way. I have clothes to wear, a place to sleep and food to eat. Generally pretty good food too. I even have enough to splurge on the occasional movie. And although my debt is not getting paid off yet, I have so far managed to keep my credit report clean.
3. My family is amazing. My sisters are my very best friends. My parents would do anything for me, except the things I really need to do for myself, and when they tell me they love me they really mean it. I've never been able to identify with the many people who don't get along with their families, and I hope I never will.
4. I have wonderful friends who don't really care what I do for a living. I have even more wonderful friends who are actively trying to help me find a job that would make me happy. And in the meantime they cheerfully put up with my whining and give me fewer things to whine about.
5. Somebody thinks I'm gorgeous.
However. All things considered, I still have a pretty nice life. In fact, there are probably millions and millions (possibly even BILLIONS) of people who would be thrilled to trade with me. Perspective is important. In the interest of maintaining that perspective, I have made a very abbreviated list of the good things in my life that I should appreciate more.
1. I am in excellent health. I have no serious health problems. I don't have much in the way of non-serious health problems. I don't even have allergies. I am not on prescribed medication for anything at all, which makes me pretty unique among my acquaintance. And I have health insurance to help keep it that way. (Thanks Dad!)
2. While I don't have a job that interests and challenges me and provides me with a future career and pays off my school debt, I do have one that pays the bills in a minimal sort of way. I have clothes to wear, a place to sleep and food to eat. Generally pretty good food too. I even have enough to splurge on the occasional movie. And although my debt is not getting paid off yet, I have so far managed to keep my credit report clean.
3. My family is amazing. My sisters are my very best friends. My parents would do anything for me, except the things I really need to do for myself, and when they tell me they love me they really mean it. I've never been able to identify with the many people who don't get along with their families, and I hope I never will.
4. I have wonderful friends who don't really care what I do for a living. I have even more wonderful friends who are actively trying to help me find a job that would make me happy. And in the meantime they cheerfully put up with my whining and give me fewer things to whine about.
5. Somebody thinks I'm gorgeous.