Some say the recession is over and others say its still here for a few months yet. Either way, by now almost everyone has been touched by it in some way. One of the hardest hitting issues has been unemployment, which is apparently still on the increase right now. If you have not been affected directly, I am sure you know or have heard about someone who has. Hours reduced, pay cuts and redundancy, all have an enormous impact on your life.

In an earlier blog post, there was a light hearted entry, joking about what you can do with your extra free time and it looked at the positives of redundancy. Well, im still going to look at the positives here too as I see nothing gained from looking at the negatives, though this is a more practical entry. I will also add, I am speaking from experience, having been made redundant myself so I have experienced some of the feelings you maybe going through. 

I had worked from leaving school at 16. Even during my further education I had work as I always had something on my mind that I wanted for the future. I had so many goals to achieve, first it was driving lessons, then a car, then insurance, than a house etc etc. Most of my goals i am pleased to say I have achieved, but when my career was threatened it really was a scary time. I had worked very hard and made it to UK Marketing Manager for a very successful international company, to face losing all that in a matter of weeks was to most people life destroying. It was hard and there were some sleepless nights and lots of difficult decisions to be made, but I always seemed to treat it as just another challenge. Challenges I enjoy, the more pressure the better I seem to function. So taking all the positives as my strength, I was able to open my own business and push forward using my exisiting experience and previous business knowledge. Things have been tough and it hasn’t easy but im fit and healthy and have a great deal of support from family and friends, so am very happy. 

My advice to anyone out there who is struggling is to sit back and think rationally, believe in yourself, recognise your strengths, know where you want to go with your life and go for it! Your state of mind and how you think about situations will make a very big difference in how you deal with things. Never be scared to ask for help, there are lots of resources out there, use them.

I hope I can bring a little inspiration to you and I am always happy to help anybody where I can, get in touch if you have a personal story or a problem you want to share.

Marrieanne Pringle, Director of Paws Interactive