People, Not Stuff.

About a week ago and a half ago, I was feeling extremely confident and optimistic.

Boy, I wish I could have bagged the optimism busting from my heart at that moment and stored it in a safe container because I sure need some right now. Searching for a job stinks – period. But trying to find a job in this economic climate is extremely difficult. I’m upset because I feel like I did everything I was told to. Go to a great university? Check. Get good grades? Check. Network? Check. Volunteer and take internships? Check. But all those things don’t seem to matter to many employers. It would be easier to accept if I was the only one having trouble but I know I’m not. Many of my friends who have recently graduated within the past two years are struggling as well. And these are bright, creative, and generally hard-working young adults.

I don’t believe I’m entitled to some great career because I have a college degree. At the end of the day, having my name on a piece of paper doesn’t mean I’m supposed to have anything. I get it, I really do. It just hurts when you sweat and struggle to succeed for five years and when you finally climb the mountain, ready to take on the world, you realize the tall mountain you just climbed is really only a large hill and the REAL mountain is looming overhead. It’s just frustrating.

I really feel for those who have been established firmly in the workforce only to be let go with a “thanks for many years of service, see you later.” Many of those people have mortgages, kids, and other things to worry about. Fortunately for myself, I really only have to be responsible for one person — myself. So needless to say,  I have been feeling a combination of frustrated, apathetic, and angry the past few days since I have returned from Virginia Beach, Va.

What does any of this have to do with minimalism? I’m getting to that.

Every two weeks, I meet with a support group of sorts. It’s nothing official and it’s relatively small right now, but it’s something very cool in my life at a time when I especially need it.  In this group, me and three others sit down with each other every other Sunday to write down our new goals, go over the past 2 weeks goals, and also anything else going on in our lives.   So far, in this group that has been meeting for the last 6 weeks, 2 have gotten well-paying  secure jobs, 1 has decided to go back to school and is already signed up for classes in the Fall, 1 has de-cluttered and transformed his entire downstairs, 3 have followed exercising schedules with 1 even hiring a personal trainer and writing a daily food diary. It’s very fulfilling seeing people you like and respect doing great things and even better when you get a chance to help them accomplish their goals.

Since I’ve adopted a minimalist lifestyle, I have found some ‘friends’ don’t agree with the decision. I know I’m not the only one that has happened to.  It doesn’t really matter but what does is that we make sure that we get help and support when we need it and we give that as well. For me, after speaking with the group about my job frustrations, they helped me realize that while I cannot control all the external issues going on in the economy right now, I can always control my attitude. That’s important because it means that instead of adopting a ‘”poor me” attitude, I can withstand obstacles, not take them personally, and most importantly, continue trying. I say all this to say that we all need support groups in our lives. Sometimes that group support comes from our family. But it can be our friends or even good-hearted strangers.

I think most of us interested in minimalism and simple living are also generally interested in self-development.   In each of our self-development paths, I think it’s important to realize the value support groups provide us. Sometimes, we don’t always have to go through everything alone.