Welcome to the Ranks of the Gainfully Unemployed!

Hello and let me be the first to welcome you into the ranks of the gainfully unemployed!

However you’ve managed to lose your job it, most likely, came as an unpleasant surprise. Maybe you missed out on that promotion and discovered that your position was being phased out. Maybe your position was phased out because you were caught sniffing someone’s shoes in the restroom. These things happen. The modern workplace is a strange and confusing place and I’m not here to judge.

But don’t wallow in self-despair. You now have the unique opportunity to take part in an experience that can be almost, but not quite, as fulfilling as the life you led before you were “let go.” That’s the life of gainful employment!

Just how can unemployment be “gainful?” The truth of the matter is that it can’t, at least not in the conventional sense of the word. You’ll putter. You’ll tinker. You’ll explore new and innovative ways to spend all of those newly found hours in an attempt to regain some sense of self-worth. Think of it like retirement but one without the funds to maintain your current standard of living.

That’s gainful unemployment in a nutshell! It’s a lifestyle. It’s a mindset. It’s a means to spend months or, even years, without a job in a semi-productive state without falling into despair. The key lies in the willingness to convince yourself that you’re still providing your family and loved ones with value…just not the sort that comes with a steady paycheck.

Let’s check out a few pointers to get you through this rough patch before you start to think about how awful your life could become without a job. The economy, after all, isn’t getting any better.

To read more just click through to Welcome to the Ranks of the Gainfully Unemployed! on Medium!

About the Author

derekbremer Prior to his life as a stay at home father Derek spent more than a decade performing public relations and marketing functions for financial consulting firms and found the job to be precisely as exciting as it sounds. When not tending to his wife or daughter Derek enjoys subjecting the public to his unique take on fatherhood, travel and animal husbandry. He has been published in Scary Mommy, Sammiches and Psych Meds, The Good Men Project, HowToBeADad, Red Tricycle, RAZED, HPP and the Anthology "It's Really Ten Months Special Delivery: A Collection of Stories from Girth to Birth.