Thomas Merton on Dealing with Stress in Job Search

I grew up in a family that placed great emphasis on giving back to the community. The involvement by my parents in many different volunteer capacities, including leadership positions on various boards was a blue print for how I have chosen to live my life. I have always felt the need to use my gifts of talent, time and treasure to help make a difference in my local community. In fact, I believe that I have blogged about this before: here.

I am currently on the Advisory Board for the group Authentic Leadership in Cincinnati and will be working with the Business Development Group of Cincinnati's United Way organization, but the group that I wanted to bring up here in this space is the IHM Job Search Ministry, whose leadership board, I have recently joined. Immaculate Heart of Mary (IHM) is one of the largest Catholic parishes in the archdioces of Cincinnati. This group is an off-shoot of the well-known Job Search Focus Group (JSFG) in Hyde Park (Cincinnati suburb). The goal of the group is to provide training, coaching and support to the many folks in the area who are in transition. Job search is more than a full time "work" process, but is also an emotional journey lined with worry, stress and self-doubt especially given the economic conditions in the world today.

The IHM group met last night, and our speaker was well known area psychiatrist, Dr. Buzz Auvil, who spoke on the topic of Stress. Just wanted to leave folks with a list of strategies that Buzz recommended to the group to help alleviate the overwhelming feelings that can occur during job search or during any type of life transition.

• Own the Stress-once you own it, you can control it!
• Take Care of Physical Needs: exercise, eating right
• Seek Support
• Take a Break
• Get to Know Yourself
• Learn Relaxation Techniques
• Spiritual Practice-prayer, kindness to others, meditation, spiritual reading

Buzz opened the session with a wonderful prayer from Thomas Merton that I wanted to share with you:

MY LORD GOD, I have no idea where I am going.
I do not see the road ahead of me.
I cannot know for certain where it will end.
Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think that I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so.
But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you.
And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing.
I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire.
And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road though I may know nothing about it.
Therefore will I trust you always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death.
I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone.

- Thomas Merton, "Thoughts in Solitude"

Image credit: http://fulleryouthinstitute.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/stress_city.jpg
Copyright Michelle Beckham-Corbin 2009