Dress Like You Mean It. Don't Waste The Day! 2/21/2024

 Good Morning,

I am sitting at the desk. A hot cup of Door County Breakfast Blend Coffee is sitting and steaming next to me. I am ready to write. 

Proverbs 3:4 So you will find favor and good success in the sight of God  and man. 

Back in the early 1980's the United States was in quite a tough recession and any type of work was scarce. The company I worked for had a workforce reduction and being young and with not much work time in, I was laid off. The company closed and it wasn't coming back. I applied for work somewhere every day and was turned down repeatedly. I did a lot of odd jobs for cash and it helped out and I could pay my bills, but barely. 

One day, my dad called on me and asked what I was doing for the day?  I was still in an old pair of sweat pants and a beat up undershirt.

I will never forget what he said. "I know you dress nicely when you apply for work, but you will feel better when you still rise up early, dress for work, and then go and do something. Volunteer, get done, what you did not have time for while working. Work and dress your way to work." I had been studying to improve my knowledge in a couple areas, via the library. "Dress, for work, and find some work to do. Don't waste the day in your pajamas. Don't let the day start without you. Sitting in your pajamas and not accomplishing much, if at all, just makes for a pity party and lack of confidence. If you want to work, be ready to work. Soon work will come and all the things that didn't get done while unemployed will not get done once you get busy again." 

He sure was right. It wasn't long after that and I was employed in healthcare and spent 38 years there. I never recall a time when we weren't busy. The studies I did not finish while I was out of work, were actually ones I needed for this new arena of work. Now I had to go to night school and it made me busier than what I could handle at times. 

Getting dressed and meeting the day in clothes that you did not sleep in does make one feel better about themselves and makes you more hopeful when out of work. A to do list with check marks of completion makes for a sense of pride.

Food for thought!

Marty