Bogged Down, Climbing Up (Or Not)

The Great Valley Excursion is working. The Great Valley Excursion is not working. I am not alone.

This project has a purpose, that of perking me up again. I am not lazy, but my energy is being drained from me. A complex of frustrations in employment search, business startup, relationships and a host of others seems out to get me. And it is having much more success in emotional devestation than I want to admit.

[There are many who will say “pull yourself together. Winners never quit and quitters never win.” These sections are not for you. But please recognize that we all have different strengths. Challenges large for me may be small for you, and vice versa.]

As I share this project with friends new and old, I realize that I am not alone. There are other people out there who are demoralized. And it is not a pretty thing.

A question recently posed on LinkedIn was how people have altered their careers in reaction to The Great Recession. One response caught my eye. The person said he had not recognized any recession at all.

The average household wealth suddenly lost two decades of growth. The unemployment rate has doubled. Foreclosures are through the roof. And here is someone who says he hasn’t noticed? This person is oblivious, in denial or dissembling. He most certainly is not representative of millions of Americans.

No, I am not alone.

A.J. Kposowa, a researcher at the University of California at Riverside, reports in an article published in Psychological Medicine that “unemployed men were a little over twice as likely to commit suicide as their employed counterparts.” For women, it’s worse: “After 9 years of follow-up unemployed women were over three times more likely to kill themselves than their employed counterparts.”

Additional confirmation comes from a recent Bloomberg News article, citing a study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It reported “suicide rates in the U.S. tend to rise during recessions and fall amid economic booms.”

More people are crying out for help. The Huffington Post, in a recent article,reported that “calls to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline increased by 36 percent in 2008, and another 15 percent in 2009.”

And the calls keep coming in. An articlein Medical News Today announced that the volume of drastic pleas for help received by the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline increased by another 14% between 2010 and 2011.

Even though the rates are climbing, the actual numbers, thankfully, are not very high. Still, who among those suffering cares about actual numbers? There are scads of people who just can’t see a way out anymore. One loses hope, and one’s energy gets drained away.

I’m trying to do something about it. I don’t know what else to do other than this:

Start a project that is both fascinating and challenging, that gives me a reason for making plans, working on steps leading toward an objective. Something creative. Something envigorating.

So, it’s working. I’m doing things again. More often than not, I’m excited about what the day will reveal. I’m making strides toward my goals.

And it’s not working. I’m only making strides that interest me. It’s a lot better than it has been, but not up to snuff. Yet.

It’s an interesting problem, and something that I’ve been studying. When it comes to getting people to take action, I’ve got some really heavy-weight teachers. In fact, this is something that really excites me.

The challenge is, usually, not to inform people, nor to get them on board emotionally, but to induce them to actually DO something. So, can I apply my learning to myself?

Follow me on Twitter: @BobRowellArt. Join in the discussion with the hashtag #GVExc. There’s also a Great Valley Excursion Fan Page on Facebook. And add your comments, below! Thanks for joining me!!

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