My appologies. It has been some time since I last posted an article to my blog. Last week I was in San Diego, CA with my family visiting relatives. This event was planned well before I parted company with United Cerebral Palsy and it was better to proceed with the trip and recharge the batteries for the job search than stay and continue with current habituated behavior patterns. It felt good to get away for a short while.

Currently, I am on hold with the District of Columbia Department of Employment Services (DOES). I have yet to receive my first unemployment payment from this institution. Each time I call, I am on hold for no less that one hour and ten minutes (1:10). The efficiency of this office is something that I hope isn’t a regular occurrence around the country. If so, the sheer amount of productivity toward the job search for those who remain on hold with unemployment offices around the nation that is lost is disconcerting to say the least. Is it that there are so many out of work that these offices are inundated by a tidal wave of people seeking something to get them through to the next month, week or day? I am not complaining, but it appears that these offices are surely in need of support. Perhaps they can find a way to hire more staff to ensure unemployment checks are sent out in a reasonable time. Personally, I have been filing since May 22, 2010 after a six week severance pay window that began April 9, 2010. Again, I have yet to receive my first payment from this office.

As an update on my job search, I have one opportunity left in action at this point. I was awaiting response on three before I left for San Diego and I have heard back from two. Each were a response that led me to keep searching for a position. The way that I see things and the way things have been much of my life is that when one door closes another opens.

• When I ran for President of the student body at the University of Nevada, Reno and lost by less than 100 votes out of 1000, it was a door opening for me to graduate in four years.
• When I could not afford a grandiose university experience (even though I was accepted), it opened a door for one closer to home where I found the rewarding experience of Greek life and being involved on campus.
• When I did not fare well on the LSAT in preparation for law school (and before I heard back after applying), it led me to move to Washington, DC to pursue a career in progressive causes and politics.
• When both attending law school and working on Capitol Hill as a staffer were not a viable route for me, in pursuit of a career in progressive causes and politics, graduate school, pursuing a degree in Public Administration, became the path to follow. Knowledge and its pursuit are unending and regardless of formal education, it is something that should be sought incessantly.

Life has not followed a master blueprint for me. Much like a river, my life has followed a course of natural progression. When met with resistance, it bends and finds another way, but it does not stop. Goals for me are more like guide posts than they are firmly cemented and entrenched and unyielding fixations of pursuit. Goals are still something to strive for, but not something to die trying to achieve. There are always ways around obstacles if we put our minds to it. My current situation is no different than an obstacle that I must find a way to overcome.

Aristotle once said, “Great leaders are not born, they are developed… fired in the crucible of experience and opportunity.” Is this my opportunity for something greater? Is this the ordeal that I must survive so that I might become a stronger person and have greater strength of character as a result? I must appreciate the process. As difficult as it might become, I must find solace in knowing that this is something that is meant to be and something that will only make me stronger and a better person.

I normally find myself to be a pessimistic person; always finding ways to defend from the worst and always preparing for what might happen. Maybe this is the experience that I need to have in my life to bring an optimistic perspective into focus. Something Michael J. Fox would appreciate. A significant life change. Sometimes things happen for a reason. When one door closes, another opens.