Mentorship - Portliness and 3.47 Miles of Gasping For Air

We all have the need for stress relief.  To me establishing a venue or means of escape from the world of mental bondage is critical for prevention of madness.  That term may sound extreme but isn't that what bondage creates?  My own paramount source of bliss is taking a long drive in my beat up old 1990 Mazda Miata convertible.  I always wanted a convertible and so a few years back I bought one off of an ad on Facebook.  It's a good little car that fits my shortness.  I love it and hopefully it has the same sentiments for me.  (Please.....laugh a little).  Mine is MUCH less in "mint" condition than the one pictured. 😢

However, that is for me.  This post deals in a little different direction but along the same lines of stress relief - running.  If you are one of those fitness nuts that enjoys running (repent all of you!) you may associate with these feelings.  I do my run/walk of about 3.47 miles "most" every day on the Wabash Trace in Southwest Iowa.  Sure, for me a good walk is my secondary reliever of stress.  Getting older fitness has taken a back seat.  It's not like when I was a little younger and had my Taekwondo school.  Anyhow, today being another drought-ridden sunny and hot day I did go for a "tiptoe through the tulips" out on the trace.

Though the complete Trace is 62 miles it is 3.47 round trip from our sports park to where it crosses a main highway.  I used to be able to jog the complete 3.47, but being just a tad be portly around the 'ol waist in my more seasoned years I do more brisk walking than running.  It is mostly paved and scenic with trees, vast areas of tall corn growing on each side and a bridge crossing the Nishnabotna River.

On this day, however, I was impressed by a older passerby on a bike ride on the Trace.  As I passed her she cheered me on and encouraged me to continue the jog though I was gasping for air with each step.  NOTE:  I'm not that tall so it takes me double the steps as others to get to where I'm going 😂.  This struck me at how important it is to encourage one another.  Being an individual person offering the praise it uplifted as a mentor.  I've mentioned before in other writings the need to address each other.  Perhaps it is time to take it a step further and take upon yourself the subconscious title as mentor to someone else.  

Also as I mentioned before, these writings are mostly for my own posterity sake and also because I love to write.  So, I address this topic as a reminder to me the need to mentor or take someone under your wing.  Yet, it is an outreach to others to do the same.  

I am reminded of a time in my youth when this young man was very shunned and often made fun of in school.  Dang!  Now I'm reach back 35 years or so.  Anyhow, being an extreme introvert I didn't do much to reach out.  Looking back, how could I have been a better friend?  How could I have uplifted his spirits just a little more?  We all fall short from time to time in making a positive difference in others people's lives.  Nevertheless, dwelling on the past is cancerous.  Applying it to the future is everything.

Take these words for what it is.  Apply it or crap it out.  Whatever.  My last words of wisdom for the day is to get your portly belly out of the house.  Find a trail or even your own road.  Take that long walk or run.  Give it several minutes, raise your arms and see the people behind you gasping for air from the pollution of your pits (please laugh at the graphic picture😁😂😁😂).  

As you can guess I love to laugh.  In the words of a great Mongolian I bid you "arrivederci!"  For those of you that know languages please laugh.........

Coronavirus and the Era of Unemployment and Hope in Peril

 In perilous financially troubled times of COVID-19, or Coronavirus, we are humbled to uncertainties of the future.  It has gripped our attention to the things we take for granted.  Things like our careers, our income, intrinsic wealth and even our lack of compassion is taken for granted.  All these things when regularly supplied dulls our senses to hope.  Many in this demographic have lost their work and livelihood during this pandemic.  Many have dropped so far as to lose all hope and have found themselves in the pit of desperation.

To all of those millions……………….I have no words of consolation.

If you are still reading this and find yourself in this category then you are clinging on to that thin string called hope.  This is not your garden variety “pep” talk or cliche words of encouragement.  Those are a dime a dozen out there.  This is my story and my journey.  Take it for what it is.

I remember back when I was eleven.  Up to that point my life was filled with pain and periodic medical treatment.  Both of my kidneys were blocked and was poisoning my system.  The proper nuclear medical procedures finally have developed enough to allow my surgical procedures.  You may ask what that has to do with COVID-19 or what’s dubbed the China Virus.  In my journey…..everything.

As a young child I was severely introverted both before and especially after those surgeries.  I was very protective of my kidney area and recoiled at every little situation.  These things took a lifetime it seemed to work through.  The point is that in those times - hope for me was trivial.  Before those procedures I had to cling to the hope of my mother.  That alone sustained me.  After - though recovering, I felt I had no reason to hope.  Especially for a young man commencing his confused adolescence.  

Yet, even in the midst of believing there is no reason to hope you have to keep breathing.  That is the foundation of the human design in this life.  In times of hardship like these we need to keep breathing if we find ourselves without hope.  Even if we take the hard pill and file for welfare state assistance to feed our families we need to keep breathing.  

So, I kept breathing.  I went into the military as a rebellious “ass” at the beginning of Desert Storm and came out with a medical discharge.  Another major setback seemingly without hope but I kept breathing.  No, I never went to college but chose to amass a vast wealth of knowledge that I relish to share with others.  I’ve learned from the ground up the precepts of manufacturing, shipping, logistics, territorial management, government and international work and management at all levels.

Sure, there have been many times (more than I can count on my fingers and toes) that I’ve felt without even hope.  Nevertheless, I’m here which means I still chose to keep breathing.  

Let’s bring it back to the Coronavirus.  Sure, we’ve suffered major economic and social turmoil.  However, unlike the Great Depression we now have the ability to quickly snap back from such societal ailments.  Even now most all sectors of the economy are on the “V” swing rise at an unprecedented rate.

In my final few words I turn my attention to those serving in talent acquisition, human resource or just plain those in charge of hiring new employees.  Learn to take that leap of faith on a person.  Don’t toil yourselves with digging through hundreds of applications for that “one” you feel will carry your company into the 25th century.  Reflect on your own lives.  Do any of the words above describe you or your family growing up?  

Please don’t dismiss the worth of those with age either.  We may not be millennials or even the most tech savvy.  Yet, we have a wealth of knowledge and discipline that only time and experience can supply.  The young are equally important.  Likewise, the well “seasoned” are equally as important as the young.

I’ve tried to keep this as focused as I could without straying or confusing people too much.  I believe I’ve failed at that one (lol).  Still, I can break down or condense down the entire subject matter into one little sentence.

You must keep breathing….even when you feel there’s no reason to hope.

Unemployment and Weight Loss in Times of Infectious Virus

2020 is a year that truly sucks for millions of Americans.  COVID-19 has gripped a nation and drove the economy down.  No, the economy does not have a gloomy outlook, but that has little healing remedy for the here and now among the unemployed.  How does one recover?  How does one cope when the job market is saturated with the destitute in the same situation?  This is not a post on overcoming the fear and anxiety.  It is not a post of self pity.  There are plenty of those out there.  Instead I'd like to visit what is it and the ramifications it has on the self and the family.

For many we have worked decades straight just to have 2020 happen.  A humbling experience hardly describes it.  Like it or not it is true that money makes the world go around.  Sure there's love among mankind and pursuing the activism of climate change or even war.  Still, let's be honest, the ability to support financially your family is what makes it all happen.  For most we ask not for handouts.  We do not ask for platitudes or sympathy.  We only ask for civility, friendship and yes even networking (of friendship).  There is nothing better to one under the bus than to have someone there comforting and talking you through it.  I believe that's why a vast throng of population are on social media whether it be Facebook, LinkedIn or some other platform.  Networking, yes.  Finding a job, yes.  But it is the undeniable desire to connect with a smile and friendly exchange that heals the heart in times like these.  I believe it is that desire for not only the unemployed but also those who are affluent and comfortable.

Few things are more discouraging in the job market than knowing that you are among possibly hundreds vying for the same job.  Hope and positive attitude become a scarce commodity in the chance casino of being the "one" out of hundreds marked for that job.  Faith wanes even though you may "feel" like you are meant for that job you applied for.  This leads to the next point I want to make.  This point, in many ways, is more deadly than the financial consequences.

Health.  There are no solid numbers to support it.  We are all different and react to different things in different ways.  However, I believe there is a measurable health risk that accompanies anyone who is unemployed.  I think we can go beyond the obvious.  There is the worrying of putting food on the table.  There is the worry about mounting medical bills and if you are even going to keep your mortgage.  No, I speak now of personal health.

Consider the saturation of the job applicants.  In times of economic success, like last year, there is a marginal ease of spirit that you may be chosen for work.  This I know because I experienced unemployment for the first time after 30 years of work.  During any job search there is that roller coaster of anxiety and hope.  Hope of when you send off that resume.  Hope as you await an answer that they'll be impressed with your resume.  And then to have yourself cut off at the knees when you get that email of "we regret to inform you" or "we've decided to go another direction."  That is a devastating repeated action for the internal and mental health for anyone unemployed.  If you've been there like me then you probably feel like going through the bubonic plague than that constant bounce.

It can and does mess with your diet.  Some may gorge themselves with food.  Others may be too sick to the stomach to eat and therefore start losing weight.  Great changes come with unemployment.

Now, don't get me wrong.  Having been the one to hire and terminate during a few careers in the past I understand that it can be difficult to let someone down in a satisfactory and compassionate way.  In addition, management must be able to let it slide somewhat just to keep pace and sane in the world of business.  Again, no blame on either side of the table, but rather the desperate need for that friend.  

I write in generalities.  I write about the whole of a people and rarely of myself.  Yet, I will break tradition this once as it illustrates what I'm talking about.  In a couple of sentences I'll say that I had to have emergency treatment in the middle of the night.  I believed it was my heart but instead it was diagnosed as stress.  For all the despondent the struggle is real.  

I have been a writer and public speaker for the Constitution of the United States for decades.  I thoroughly believe that each American is endowed with the right to pursue happiness.  As a therapy to me as it is to everyone reading this that means utilizing faith and hope.  It is the hardest thing to hold on to but we must believe it to be real.  Our forefathers built a nation upon it.  So can we.

In conclusion, this is not a blame post or pity post.  It is a therapy post first and foremost to me AND to all people employed and unemployed.  Sure, an extended hand of employment is great for any of us.  BUT, the elixir that heals is the extension of the hand in friendship.  A kind word and a direct message (DM) of hope and a jovial joke is what allows us to sleep at night.

Well, enough of this long post.  However, I know it has done some good.  Not that I have the ego to believe it has helped anyone else or even that anyone is as bored as to read all of this.  No, it has helped me personally because I am putting it all down as record instead of bottling up inside.

Well......off to bed!