I just want to say that despite my personal struggles with finding employment, This venue has been not only an uplifting site but informative as well....I truly wish you all a very much needed Peaceful Holiday Season and a very Prosperous New Year. Given the current climate in this country where anything and everything can and is said, it is nice to see so much encouragement... Very Sincerely, Trae Lynn Neal

ALL JOBCASTERS,

Hi and I wanted to write something today. I woke up this morning and realized Christmas is right around the corner. I remember when I was young my family had a nice christmas until my parents divorced and I never had another one. I recently when to see my brother and this year he decorated his tree That Old Deathly Blue. It is so beautiful. It was always my favorite at Christmas. The way it shines on the snow. I sat and talked to him for awhile and brought up the times we were buddies when we were kids. The Christmas I got The Six Million Dollar Man doll and he got The Webble Wobbles Deserted Island...haha..The times My father would get us both a Hess Truck and watch us play with them near the tree. The time my brother got a Train Track and my dad wouldn't let me touch it. But I was happy anyway because my father bought me an Evil Kinivel doll and with the wind up motorcycle. But really, The most thing I do remember and miss is when my family was all together nothing else really mattered. I really miss those times. Sometimes I wonder if the end is like the movie the Titanic, when the little old lady dies at the end she returns to that great ship in the darkness only to be greeted by the ghost from the past. I wish all a great holiday and many prayers for you all......God Bless...Jeff

People don't have control over what you do in life so it will work out for you in the future. God bless and happy holidays

Happy holidays to you all

I love Christmas-time. I am blessed with great memories of the holiday and I am blessed with a healthy happy family which loves the season as well. But I am well aware that the happiest of circumstances can get stressed by the commercial holiday pressures, and by end of year reflections. Also, it has been said that the holidays magnify things - and if you are in a difficult situation, it can make it feel even more lonely and full of despair. And often desperation and difficulty is invisible to others.

I came to understand how it is impossible to understand the burdens that others carry one rainy day in 1999- the morning of my mothers funeral. I sat momentarily composed at a breakfast with my father, realizing that all the other happy folks around us had no idea how shattered our world had become. Our burdens were invisible to them. And who knows what burdens other patrons in that restaurant carried that day that were invisible to us?

So I imagine how many burdens others carry this holiday season that are invisible to to each of us. Certainly many are work related - directly or indirectly. And many others. But the great thing is that WE ALL CAN HELP! The smallest act of kindness can make the difference. Lets all commit to Jobcasers putting out great karma with small acts of kindness this season. Wave somebody into your line of traffic, give the cashier a nice smile at checkout, invite coworkers that you might not normally think of to join you at lunch for work,help someone get an interview or a good praise here on Jobcase, drop a toy into Toys-for-Tots basket- or any other small act of kindness that occurs throughout your day.

I'm enough of a dreamer to believe that this really will make the world a bit better. And with 65 million Jobcase members, if we all do it - maybe a LOT better!

So I hope you are enjoying the season too, I hope you are able to bear the invisible burdens you carry, and I hope you will join me in committing to a few small acts of kindness each day to help others with their burdens too!

I can’t help feeling empathy after listening to some the voices of despair, frustration, and uncertainty over members unjustly losing their jobs or inability to find work. It’s easy to rush to judgement and assume these members can’t find jobs simply because they’re not trying hard enough but for someone who’s successfully surfed in and out of many jobs and careers and raised up to learn how to lift myself up by my own bootstraps and never ask for help in the past I can honestly say that things aren’t as clear and simple as they were in the past. Dying industries, rapidly evolving need for technical skills, and ageism discrimination are realities affecting the current workplace that many of us find increasingly difficult to maneuver through. Finding a job is impersonal and maintaining a job is fierce. I like to think I’m one of many other members on this site who don’t regard your message of pain and frustration as a sign of weakness, negativity, or complaint. I also know what it’s like to suddenly lose your income and have your whole life turned upside down. It’s a scary and lonely place to be. I encourage those in need to continue asking for help and inspire help from others who can offer it. People helping people is what it’s all about. Happy Holidays!

Happy Holidays to you and allllllllllll yours. Many best wishes.