Starting Over

Larry who was 55 years old, had worked for the same company for 25 years. The company was then acquired by a large corporation. Larry was being laid off as part of the corporate restructuring. Larry didn’t know what he was going to do.
He thought he was close to retirement. But now, Larry was facing the prospect of starting over. He was worried about having to compete with people 30 years younger than him for a new job. Larry wasn’t optimistic about his prospects.
Larry thought he was too old to be hired. There were so many younger job seekers who would work for far less. The employment landscape had changed from when he last looked for a job. Larry became stressed. How was he going to start over?
After a divorce, Melinda found herself single for the first time in 20 years. She had forgone a career to raise her three children. Now she was starting over. Melinda wondered what she was going to do.
At 45, she had no work experience to list on her resume. Melinda started to have feelings of regret that she had wasted time staying at home. Many of her friends had developed successful careers and were earning good salaries. They put their kids in day care so they didn’t have to stay home.
Melinda found herself in panic mode. She made mental lists of all the obstacles facing her. She felt overwhelmed about being on her own. Melinda didn’t know where to start and was frightened by the future.
Stan and Linda had just finished remodeling the house they had lived in for 15 years. Then in virtually the blink of an eye, it was destroyed by a flood. They lost everything. Although the insurance covered the loss, Stan and Linda were drained. They had to build another house and replace the contents. A lot of items, such as photographs and original documents couldn’t be replaced.
Both Stan and Linda worked full time. They were worried about the effect on their jobs if they took off a lot of time to oversee the rebuilding. They had been so relieved to finally have the renovation completed. Now Stan and Linda thought they lacked the energy to start over again.
Larry has a great deal of experience and maturity that sets him apart from his younger competition. He needs to promote his strengths and believe in himself. He will be a great asset to any business.
Melinda shouldn’t underrate the expertise she developed over the last 20 years running her household. Melinda is skilled at financial management, customer service, negotiation, scheduling, budgeting, purchasing, accounts payable, and benefits management.
Stan and Linda have all the experience from their recent renovation. They have what it takes to rebuild their house. It’s unfortunate that they lost some irreplaceable possessions. They have to keep things in perspective by being thankful that they both survived the flood unscathed.
Unexpected or unplanned circumstances happen. They can set you back to a point where it seems as if you have to start over. As dire as you think your situation is, you have to look at what you have going for you rather than obsessing about the obstacles.
When you are looking at starting over you usually are at a low point emotionally and energy wise. When you have to start over you may feel like giving up. Having to start over feels like the final straw.
In spite of how you feel, you are never really starting from zero. You have more experience, wisdom, and knowledge than you did originally. Don’t get fixated on the negatives. Focus on your assets verses your liabilities. You have what it takes to successfully move forward.