I am once again reminded this morning, while tediously preparing my daily food logs, that weight loss and maintenance are a never ending battle. I have lost 32 pounds over the last 3 years and have kept it off for over one year! Unfortunately, I have to battle every day to prevent these pounds from coming back. One terrible weekend can result in almost a ten pound gain!
This is one reason why I can truly sympathize with job seekers during one of the worst jobs markets in my over twenty years as a technical recruiter. Many of your thoughts of despair, depression and hopelessness are ones I face daily in my quest to conquer my propensity towards obesity. It seems like The Myth of Sisyphus in which you constantly roll the boulder to the top of the mountain only to have it roll down when you are almost at the top. The philosopher Albert Camus likened this to modern life working in futile jobs in factories and offices. He said, “The workman of today works every day in his life at the same tasks, and this fate is no less absurd. But it is tragic only at the rare moments when it becomes conscious.” Though originally published in 1942, these thoughts are very apropos today during these times of severe unemployment.
As in my case of battling weight gains, there is no easy solution. I am a strong advocate of the Power Of Push. This means that you need to push yourself hard on a daily basis to do things that you do not want to do even during your most dire moments of despair. One item that works for me is keeping a daily food log of all food intakes. In your case, I recommend keeping a daily jobs log including: 1) all successes 2) all failures and 3) thoughts for what to do differently in the future. Remember there is no easy solution during these tough times.
