This story is becoming far too prevalent in my generation not to share. The common reality of new graduates in this struggling economy is that many thousands of these individuals will be without work in their chosen field.  I wish this wasn’t the case.

However, this situation isn’t isolated to only Canada; it is happening in countries across the world.  My generation, “Generation Y,” is now being called, “Generation Jobless.” Even the name makes us feel powerless and at a position of inferiority to others.

Many young adults feel that they are overeducated and unemployed.  This belief comes as a result of applying for jobs after they graduate.  They are not hired because they are inexperienced for the jobs they would like to pursue but overqualified for the jobs they will get.

In my personal life, I have been challenged with staying true to myself on many occasions and levels.  “Staying True to Myself” means that I keep my values, beliefs, idiosynchasies, morals, etc. and do not change them for anyone else.

The world constantly wants to change you.  However, you know what you want and need to be strong enough not to be swayed.

“You were born an original. Don’t die a copy.” – John Mason

I have written about this before for my post “Am I Really Free to Be Me?” where I discuss people’s comments about me.

I am excited that Tara Jacek is sharing her story with all of us.  I stumbled on Tara's blog (Girl Seeks Career) last week and I'm so glad I did. She is a young professional blogging about her experiences and provides advice to young women entering the work world. I highly recommend checking out her blog after you’ve read her post here. She has really inspired me. We each shared our stories for the others blog.

I love swimming!! If I had it my way, I would spend all day in or around the water.  It makes me feel alive.

As I have said in a previous post, sometimes I feel as if I am part fish.

If I could do one activity every day for the rest of my life and not get bored of it, it would be swimming.  The water is almost as essential as oxygen to my survival.  Maybe that's because I was raised always being near, in, or on the water.

It is with great sadness that I announce the passing of a friend and mentor of mine, Lisa Simpson Brewster. Lisa passed away after a long battle with Breast Cancer.

Sometimes people come into your life, touch your heart, and your life will never be the same. I first met Lisa, three years ago, in an educational context.  Despite the twenty-year age difference between we connected and became friends. She was back in school starting a new career path in counselling. From the moment I met her, I noticed her enthusiasm and passion for life. It was infectious. She is also the proud mother of her son, Adam. Even with all the hardships she had endured, she pressed on and didn’t let these obstacles stop her from living. Lisa had such a beautiful heart.

We live in a society where accessing information has become easy and fast.  If you want something, you can get it almost immediately online.

This instantaneous access has made individuals impatient if they have to wait for something.  Some aspects of life can’t be rushed.

If you want to achieve greatness, you will have to put in the hard work to get there.  This time and effort can’t be rushed.

I wear my bracelet in memory of:

• My grade 5 teacher who developed lung cancer from second-hand smoke in the environment she was living in (and she never smoked a day in her life).  She passed away when I was in 6th grade.
• My elementary school principal, who was one of the nicest men, developed cancer and passed away when I was in grade four.
• Friends’ parents who have passed away from cancer.
• My cat who, this past June, passed away from a huge tumour in her stomach.
• My friend, Lisa Simpson Brewster passed away Breast Cancer. 

I am starting a new blog series on Perseverance and am extending an invitation to you all to share your story or an inspiring video/piece of advice on how to deal with setbacks. I find that we hear more about individuals' success orattainment of an end goal, but hardly hear about their journey to reach that goal. The “journey” is what my blog is about, and helping individuals overcome bumps along the road. The video below shows exactly what I am talking about.  When you think of these people, you think about how accomplished they are.  I never knew about all of the struggles they had gone through to reach their goals.  Learning this lesson is important!

I think it’s important to find something you love doing and to find your passion in life. I think you can do this on a daily basis.  This can be shown through your relationships, extra-curricular work, and career.

Have you ever met someone who is doing work which they truly love? Their excitement about their work can be infectious.

These people will probably be quick to tell you that they didn’t get their special job overnight, that it took a lot of time and effort and chance encounters to get there.  The people who I have heard from will also tell you that the job that they have now and LOVE was not the specific job they had in mind when they started out a long time ago.  They turned their interest into a career.

Hey everyone,

Just thought I would take some time to disconnect for a bit and get creative. I have been feeling really inspired lately so I'm going to use a notebook and write out new blog posts. I was inspired by the following image that I found on Pinterest. I'm going to spend a week of doing that in my spare time. Then next week, be prepared for new and fresh material.

Since spending time on the West Coast, I have picked up a saying that has really manifested into my way of life.

The phrase is, “No Worries.” I find it is very commonly used in my vocabulary.

The saying reflects my laid-back west coast lifestyle. Being laid-back does not at all mean a person doesn’t work hard. The laid-back lifestyle has nothing to do with the amount or intensity of your work. Rather, it means that you don’t let small things upset you.

Someone is late or has to reschedule. Things don’t happen as planned. I say: “No Worries.”

I know sometimes you can have frustrations with relationships, but sometimes you can have issues with organizations as well.  I know I’m not alone in this as this is not the first time this has happened to me.

I had a concern with an organization and was told to call a customer care representative to voice my concern.  These days, it seems if you want to speak to someone you have to call them up or email them.