Well, hello there and thanks for surfing my wave!
IT’S ‘POST’ TIME!!!!!
Please refer to May 4, 2009 post, “Sometimes It Pays to Bet on Longshots.”
Okay, so every year I usually go with a group to the horse races – not to be confused with the rat race we’re living. Like I have expendable cash, or any cash for that matter, to toss at thoroughbreds? They all said to go, relax and throw your cares away. Let my hair down.
Well, it wouldn’t be cares I’d be throwing away, and I’m bald! But I went anyway; think back to the last time I went, right?
We arrived and I reverted to my same old habits of scoping out the Pari-mutuel Clerks and checking out which one I could work with, look for horses that struck my fancy, you know names that had meaning in my life and some personal ID attached to it. Forget Jockey Standings and such. I got very accustomed to that same ‘ol routine that’s worked for longer than I’d like to admit.
Honed in on The Clerk who seemed approachable and friendly. I put my bets down on the first 2 races. She said, “That’s All?” I replied, “We’ll see how my hors d’oeuvres bets go and I’ll be back.” I’ve never done it that way before. Never. So I went back to our table to do just that; eat dinner.
I lost those races and as I approached the Clerks’ window I exasperatingly decreed, “My hors d’oeuvres that I ate tasted better than the ones I bet!” I actually had all the Clerks chuckling at that point, but then it was time to get back to the business at hand – the main course. I bet several more races and went back to my seat. And lost. Again and again and again. The main course I ate was lousy; so were my bets. My standard system had failed me. I seemed to have lost my touch as if all those resumes, Company searches, phone calls – all of that – had gone nowhere and fallen on deaf ears. I feel as if it’s true. Everything that I’ve learned to this day on how to find a job has stopped working. My horses have also slowed up; gone off course to be left behind in the dust of that deserted wasteland we call our job-search.
Just for the hell of it, I didn’t bet on one race. Of all 8 races, I passed on just one, bemused. It really didn’t have my name on it. The budget I didn’t have was already two dollars over – nah, skip it. Like those mundane, stupid and trite game shows that forever repeat themselves, I picked a horse. “So Sam, you’ve already lost your job, 6 races, most of your hair and fifty bucks in cash.” The Host of the Show continues, “You’ve already cut your losses so you can’t lose any more, BUT if you WERE to wager on one more horse, Sam…who would it be, Sam?”
I picked a horse. It won. It won big; it was a longshot. I lost – but I won. This teaches us not to always rely on those old ways. Sometimes we let the routine get in the way of progress. As we search for work, and it gets worse everyday, mix it up a bit and do something new; something entirely ‘off the beaten course’. I walked into this evening with my blinkers off and didn’t look at what was staring me in the face. I already started my whole evening fresher than ever. That whole hors d’oeuvres thing; in the past, I’ve merely placed my bets, and moved on. This time I chose to talk things up a bit. It was refreshing, but I never followed-up on it; I dropped the ball. When we have our minds set to accomplish a goal, it is imperative we stick to it until we have reached success.
As I left for the evening, I crossed the Clerk’s window and she stopped me. “Aren’t you going to bet on dessert?” she asked rather wryly as to follow my lead. I said to her I was leaving; however there was still one more race to go. I said, “Thanks, but not tonight.” Then it dawned on me. It hit me harder than the rejection and avoidance I have collected from countless Companies, one after another after another. The name of that horse that I picked, didn’t bet on, and won?
Strawberry Tart.
Why Just Look For A Job? Create One!(TM)
TheUnemployMENTOR – email@theunemploymentor.com
