Some Things to do

I think it’s about time I crossed some more things off my Things to Achieve list.  There’s only a little over a week left until April when I’ll be adding some new Things, and I’d like to cross some things off before then.

Achieving my first goal of getting a job has really helped my confidence in The Secret.  I can’t quite explain it, but last week I just kind of knew I was going to get a job soon.  It wasn’t until I really started believing that what I wanted was on the way that I started to receive anything.  I think this means I can finally cross off “You must believe that you have received.  You must know that what you want is yours the moment you ask.  You must have complete and utter faith” and “Trust your instincts.” 

On that note, I think it’s about time I started this Thing:

“Decide what you want.  Believe you can have it.  Believe you deserve it and believe it’s possible for you.  And then close your eyes every day for several minutes, and visualise having what you already want, feeling the feelings of already having it.  Come out of that and focus on what you’re grateful for already, and really enjoy it.  Then go into your day and release it to the Universe and trust that the Universe will figure out how to manifest it.”

I think initially I was put off by the length of this task, but if I can work it into my routine it won’t seem so intimidating.

Finally, because March is supposed to be focussing on the secret to relationships, I’m also going to start this Thing: “For relationships to really work, we need to focus on what we appreciate about the other person, not what we’re complaining about.”  I think I’m already working towards this by doing my list of things I appreciate, but I’m going to start making sure that I’m not also complaining about people.

At long last!

It finally happened.  I got a job.  Excuse me for just a moment, but there’s something I need to do...

WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

... Right, well now that I’ve got that out of the way, let me tell you all about it.  It’s a temp job which was set up for me by the recruitment agency I talked about the other day.  It runs for two months, and is with a fairly large organisation that has a reputation for hiring temp staff for permanent positions.  I start on Monday.

It’s hard to explain, but the other day I just had this feeling that I was going to get a job soon.  Somehow I just knew that something was going to happen.  The Secret does say Ask, Believe, Receive, and I think, finally, I may have got this believing thing right.

When it rains, it pours

Life is strange isn’t it?  It can take 18 months of applying for jobs, sending out your CV, and painstakingly writing cover letters, and then all of a sudden everyone is interested in you at once. 

Yesterday I was expecting to hear about the job I was interviewed for last week, but instead I received a call from a recruitment company specialising in temp jobs which I sent my CV to about three weeks ago.  The recruitment lady wanted to know if I was interested in a temporary position which begins on Wednesday.

Because I still hadn’t heard from the other job, I was reluctant to agree to take the temp job.  It seemed foolish to accept a two week long job when it might jeopardise my chance of getting a permanent full-time position.  Instead, I agreed to contact the people who had interviewed me and ask whether they had made a decision, and if I was not the preferred applicant I could contact the recruitment lady and we could arrange a temporary job.

I’ve had no job offers for a year and a half, and then all of a sudden I have two potential jobs.  Based on my experience of just about everything in life, it is either all or nothing.  A flood or a drought.  When it rains, it pours.  Look at Japan for example, they’ve been living safely for year after year, then all of a sudden they get not one, but three disasters all at once.

Obviously, having two potential job offers is nowhere near as catastrophic as what is happening in Japan at the moment; but to me, after a year and a half of rejection, to have two companies interested in me at the same time does feel like it should be on the six o clock news.

UPDATE

I’ve just received an email from the company I had the interview with last week to inform me that they have offered the position to someone else.  I called the recruitment company back to let them know I’m officially available for any temporary jobs, and I’ve got an appointment to visit them on Thursday to find a suitable temp position for me.  Apparently, after talking to me yesterday, the recruitment lady thought I would be more suitable for some other jobs she has coming up soon which are more relevant to my degree and what I want to do.  Some windows might have closed, but I think a door just opened.

Believe, and the Universe will pay for your parking

On Tuesday I travelled up to Auckland for the spontaneous interview I mentioned in my last post.  Despite Google map-ing my entire journey and noting important details like which exit to take and what streets I needed to turn down, I managed to get lost.  No, lost is the wrong word.  I knew where I was (sort of), and where I needed to go, I just couldn’t work out how to get there. 

My sense of direction and navigational abilities are certainly not my strongest points.  I’m fairly certain that if you took a penguin, blindfolded it, spun it around ten times and asked it to find its way home, its navigational skills would still be better than mine.  If I get this job, I’ve resolved to buy myself a GPS thingy.

My detour around the city resulted in me arriving a little later than I would have liked, and with the stress of trying to find the right way, I hadn’t been visualising myself a parking space.  I drove around the block a few times looking for somewhere suitable to park, but the only space available was in a pay and display area, and I could not for the life of me see anywhere to pay.  Eventually, after a few more unsuccessful loops around the block, I realised I was going to have to take this space.

As I was gathering up my belongings I noticed a woman walking in my direction with a parking slip in her hand.  I was so distracted trying to see where she had come from that I got a bit of a fright when I realised she had stopped right next to my car.

As I wound down my window she asked if I would like to use her parking slip. Her plans had just changed so she no longer needed it, and it still had an hour and a half left on it.  I thanked her, she said it was no problem, and left me to go to my interview.

I can’t help but laugh every time something like this happens.  It feels like more than a coincidence, and I’m choosing to see it as a sign of the Universe in action.

Yes sir, I WILL be happy!

The Secret mentions that in order for us to get what we really want, we first have to be happy with ourselves and with our situations.  I think maybe this might be one of the reasons why things haven’t been working out for me.  This whole job hunt thing has really been getting me down, and it’s been going on for so long that it’s hard to just flick the switch back to being happy.  But this month is all about improving relationships, and the number one relationship I need to improve is my relationship with myself.

Ideally, I’d like to get rid of the negativity which sometimes holds my mind hostage, to be happier in general, and to not let rejection from job applications get me down.  To do this, I’m going to keep doing meditation as a means of quieting my mind, and I’m also going to revisit the idea of thinking only good thoughts before I go to sleep.  Lately my last thoughts have mostly been about how I’m tired and wish I was asleep, but I’m going to start making a real conscious effort to think about good things again. 

There are a few Things to Achieve which I believe will help me see the brighter side of life.  The first is “BE and FEEL happy now.”  This particular Thing makes me feel like I’m in some sort of happiness boot camp, and some huge, beefy, army sergeant is yelling at me: “You WILL be happy, do you hear me? You WILL be happy and you will start RIGHT NOW!”  The last person I want to upset is someone who has access to weapons, so yes sir, I WILL be happy.

The second Thing which I believe will help me is “You must change your focus and begin to think about all the things that are wonderful about you.  Look for the positives in you.”  I think I’m going to complete this task in the same way that I’m making my list of things I appreciate about Duncan.  Each day I’m going to write down one new thing which I like about me.  It sounds horrible and cheesy, but if it’s going to make me happier and help me achieve my goals, then I’m prepared to give it a go.

I’m editing this to note that as I finished writing this, I got a call from the manager of a company I’d applied for a job with a few weeks ago.  At the end of last week I received an email saying that the position had been filled, but I’ve just had a phone call to say that the person they’d offered the job to has turned the position down, and they would like to see me tomorrow afternoon to interview me.  It feels like the Universe gives me a little sign every time I’m on the right track with something.  This is hilarious!

March - new month, new theme

Today is the first of March, which means “The Secret to Relationships” has just begun.  I’ve added some more Things to Achieve to my list, and these will be my focus until the end of the month.

Initially, I thought this month was going to be about improving my relationship with Duncan (possibly the most patient boyfriend the world has ever known); however, since re-reading the relationship chapter in The Secret, I now realise that this month is about improving my relationships with everything and everyone, including myself.  The Secret says that we need to feel good about ourselves in order to attract good things to us, and this month I want to focus on feeling good about myself. 

In any job hunt it is inevitable that you’re going to receive some rejection letters.  Rejection letters don’t make you feel very good about yourself, and the worse you feel, the worse the situation becomes.  This cycle escalates until you almost can’t face applying for jobs because you can’t stand the thought of receiving another rejection letter.  In order to succeed at anything, you first need to feel good about yourself.

I also want to focus on my relationships with the people around me, and for the next thirty days I will attempt to see only good things in people.  As The Secret states, we should be focusing on what we appreciate about other people, not our complaints about them.

On that note, my first Thing to Achieve this month is “take a piece of paper, and for the next thirty days sit down and write all the things that you appreciate about that person.”  I’m going to adapt this slightly, and write down one new thing each day, rather than writing the same list for thirty days.  This way, at the end of the month I’ll have a long list of thirty things which I appreciate.

This month, the person I’ll be appreciating is Duncan, but I may continue this task over the next few months using different people if I feel I need to.