Positive Thinking

 My girlfriend has commented multiple times on the fact that the majority, if not all, of my previous blogs have been somewhat negative. I personally disagree with this observation as I feel that by highlighting negative elements of my life that are reflected within other people's existences I am offering some form of comfort, like an on-line support worker. I do agree however that whilst I try to offer support and guidance, I focus primarily on the negative aspects of life. I am therefore glad to inform my readers that I have in fact followed my own advice to a level of success. In the last few days I have won a contract to write up a selection of business copy for an independent marketing agency and secured an intern-ship within a London based magazine company ( I will keep the identity of the company private for the meantime on the off chance they do not want to be mentioned in an personal blog.)
 Both these opportunities came relatively out of the blue and coupled with my involvement with the local basketball team, the pieces are starting to slot into place. I don't write this to gloat or to make myself feel superior, hence the lack of self-indulgent Facebook statuses or tweets, but to prove that there is always a light at the end of the tunnel as long as you apply yourself.
 The feeling I get from the majority of my post-graduation friends is of negativity. People are all too ready to concede at the first road block. I don't want to be the voice of hypocrisy by claiming that I never felt down or like I was never going to succeed. I well know how dramatic I can be at times, in fact only a few short weeks ago you would have thought I had viewed my own future in a Nostradamus-esque fashion and could only see despair, pestilence and plague ahead. We all have our ups and downs, some more than others, but at the end of the day a negative attitude doesn't foretell a negative outcome. None of us are psychic and as such should all live in the frame of mind that things might actually work out. We cannot predict the bad things ahead so have no ability to prevent them, the best we can do is be aware that they might occur and try our damnedest to work through them as quickly as possible whilst remaining alive to the presence of a sliver lining. It is all too easy to forget the good things in your life when there comes a stumbling point. Keep these highlights at the forefront of your mind and use them like a Patronus charm to keep the bad thoughts at bay.
 I guess that's easy to say when I have been given good news recently but I truly hope that this resonates with just a single person who reads the message and helps them, or you if that is the case, to muddle through when things look bleak.      

The (Vicious) Circle of Life

The job search that was going to yield a bountiful supply of offers and deliver my hearts desire has hit a roadblock. All my dreams and aspirations are being hindered by one thing. Experience. The hardest thing to obtain but with the greatest value it remains a frustration for job hunters worldwide.
 You will only be considered for a position if you have experience yet you cannot gain that experience without dong the work in said position. It is the harshest vicious circle for a graduate and one that leaves your blood virtually boiling as time and again you strive to grasp a simple opportunity in the misguided hope that it will be the vital experience that tips you over the edge and actually allows you to continue on your career path.
 The fact that I have spent sixteen years of my life in education, working towards gaining a position within the field of my choice and working my way up, is one that leaves me seething. I have never lacked for confidence and I am convinced that if giving an opportunity I would thrive and succeed. All I and a whole host of my peers in the same predicament need is to be given that chance to prove ourselves. The problem is the sheer number of people applying for just one position. There is a figurative army of applicants who need to be sieved through the system and the chance you have of being top of that list is small. Unless you have experience that is. If you are one of the lucky few whose dad's ex-business partner hands you a internship at his new company because of old loyalties then congratulations. I mean that sincerely. I wish anyone who is starting a new venture the best of luck, even if they don't necessary deserve it. They will however bear the brunt of my wrath if they waste a chance that is gifted to them on a plate with a little bow attached. For us who are struggling to break into any form of work in our desired profession that chance may very well be the Holy Grail that is experience.  
 At the end of the day, the system is the way it is and there is nothing I, or anyone else, can do about it. We simply have to endure and make sure our heads stay high enough to see and opportunity before it passes us by.
 If you as a reader are actively looking for work then go forth with my best wishes. Let's hope that karma is indeed a true factor in life and the virtual luck I send out will be returned upon me.  

A Fresh Start

 For many the New Year represents a fresh start. People everywhere are setting their resolutions with the utmost desire to see them through. The problem is they rarely stick. The man trying to quit smoking will be on twenty a day by March and the Christmas gut will still be hanging around until Easter. I have always secretly felt a smidgen of contempt for people who attempt such things and fall so dramatically short. I awoke one day and realised I was vastly overweight and have been going to the gym nearly every day since that day, almost three years ago. If I can do this why can't people simply give up their vices as easily. Recently it has occurred to me that it simply isn't that easy.
 Even with sporadic work I have found it infinitely more difficult to eat well and attend the gym as often as I did at University. I have realized that when you are out in the 'real world' time is a commodity that must be used at a premium. There simply aren't enough hours in the day, an age old adage that is pertinent to everyone. I used to yearn for a timepiece like Bernard's Watch for pleasure purposes but lately I feel like I need one to get through the day.
 I give best wishes to everyone who has set a goal for 2014 and hope that busy schedules doesn't prevent them, or you if suitable, from achieving what they have set out to do.
 Personally my aims this year are to really get on the ladder of employment and grasp every opportunity that comes my way. The job search is well and truly on and I will strive to get a shot at truly succeeding if it's the last thing I do. OK, that may be a bit dramatic but the point stands. This year is one that everyone needs to take by the scruff of the neck and make sure that there are no regrets. My timeline was a buzz with people bemoaning the last twelve months and promising themselves, and the whole of Facebook, that next year will be so much greater, that all their dreams will come true. Unless they have an epiphany I fear that in three hundred and sixty days time I will see the same faces reiterating the disappointments of 2013. I will try my hardest to make sure I am not one of them.