The Connecticut Department of Labor recently announced that it would soon be handing out layoff notices. Ninety-five admission tickets to the Land of Unemployment — an amusement park that is anything but entertaining.

And this week it was another 49+ from the University of Connecticut as well.

The daily toolkit will no longer consist of badges, policies, and office politics. The new kit will be a collection of online applications and endless usernames and passwords in the dot-com or dot-org world. The once “snazzy” rug of security will be snatched from under them.

We can also note that the current unemployment rate is 5.4 percent, down from a peak of 9 percent between 2010 to 2011. This means a lot of people have endured the unpleasant journey through the Land of Unemployment. One would have to ask how many are now gainfully employed versus underemployed.

Motivation becomes a key factor during this period. Studies have shown that motivation decreases as term unemployment increases. As the level of motivation beings to plummet, psychological and sociological behaviors and thought processes begin to collapse. A person begins to evaluate his/her life through Abraham Maslow’s great Hierarchy of Needs Pyramid. The more readily that they can identify with the lack of a stated need, the more likely they are to participate in continuous internal self-worth evaluations.

This is a time to repack your backpack for the journey ahead. Grab your binoculars for the trip so you are able to “see yourself beyond where you find yourself.”

Staying optimistic during this time is crucial. Your opinion of you should be your only reality. Never let a bad day make you feel like you have a bad life. Know that you are not alone. Unemployment and underemployment is commonplace, so you need not suffer alone. Identify and connect with family and community support systems.
Reinvent yourself get training and education to become what you could have become. If opportunity does not knock, build a door.

Last but not least learn to begin each day with a grateful heart. However cliché these suggestions may be, they are still worth buying into.

Here are 10 suggestions to help you bounce back:

1. Set five realistic goals each day
2. For at least 10 seconds a day, reflect on your positive attributes
3. Practice Patience Patience
4. Control the things that you can
5. Don’t compare yourself to others
6. Watch the company you keep, remain positive and optimistic
7. Always claim the odds to be in your favor
8. Remove negative vocabulary such as “can’t,” “won’t,” and “impossible”
9. Shift from pessimistic to optimistic thoughts
10. Seek out a financial planner to create a logical financial plan

Monica Stellmacher is a 2015 graduate of the Parent Leadership Training Institute (PLTI) in Bloomfield. Her project is the creation of the a support group K.U.D.O.S CAFÉ (Keeping the Unemployed Determined Optimistic and Sane). She holds a MEd in Education and a MS in Management. She can be reached via Twitter @inspired7240.

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