Finding the Right Work/Job/Career - Presently

I was laid off from my employer back in December - and I was happy! After almost 10 years with the same software company doing the same job running the customer support department, I was ready for a change. And the best part was, I would be getting paid my full salary for 4 months while I started looking for my new, exciting next career - something big, bold, true to me and my passions!

Well, it's mid March and I have about two weeks left of severance, and no good job prospects in site. The economy is pretty lousy right now and I live in the small market area of Portland Maine - and my family does not want to move. So I guess I have to just settle for whatever I can find now that I hope at a minimum, covers our minimum living expenses. I guess then that it's not looking so good right now for my new, exciting next career. This is a pretty bad situation, isn't it? I mean, I am 44 years old and have been trying to climb corporate ladders for the last 20 of them - and all I have to show for it is the possibility of taking some job that has half the responsibility, probably pays half the salary, and probably is half as exciting as my last job. What a blow to the ego. What will my friends say? How shameful, right? No, not at all.

Here's where I get to practice what I've spent my adult years trying to master: being present. I am surrendering to what is in the moment, which means a) I won't be reliving the past and thinking about what I should have, could have done until now that may have led to a different outcome, b) I won't be daydreaming about what it would be like to be wealthy, have a nicer home, newer cars, a bigger sailboat, etc. c) I won't be beating myself up for not being good enough, or for not being as good as my neighbor, my brother, or that "successful" person in the news. While I don't like to talk in the negative (I won't, I don't, I can't, etc.), I wanted to point out what the opposite of being present is. So writing in the affirmative, what does it mean to be fully present and how will being present help me in my current situation?

I am. I surrender to being. I am one with all that is. I am free of my mind driven ego. I am living a purposeful life to help spread love and peace in this world. I consciously define goals and then take action in the moment toward the achievement of those goals. I always do my best (which may differ from day to day depending on energy levels, health or other uncontrollable influences). Being present means all of these things and more. It means taking a moment to smell the flowers while you are walking down a sidewalk. It means looking at everything around you with wonder and awe because we cannot possibly know everything about a person, or an animal, or a plant, or even a stone or a building or a bridge. It means stopping your brain from constantly thinking about the little things and circumstances in life like "why is my boss such a jerk" or "how am I going to ever afford a car like that guy's car" or "I wish I had thicker hair like that person". To answer the second part of my question at the end of the previous paragraph, being present helps me in my current career situation because it allows me to use my energy, my intelligence, my personal power and focus them on achieving my goals. If I am not present, I am using a ton of energy on stuff that does not help me get any closer to finding my next job or my next career. It is that simple. Plus, there is joy in being present. There is suffering in a lack of presence. Simple to understand, yes. Sometimes not simple to implement. I'm going to save implementation strategies for another discussion.