I received an email recommending this story off the Fox News site.  I don’t really need to say much more than what’s included in this 10 minute video.  Two people who have no reason to forgive did so in a very public way as a part of their court testimonies. They serve as an example for us all.
As job hunters who were possibly treated unfairly by our former employers, there’s a lot we can learn from this very valuable example.

Those of you who follow my blog will remember my recent review of Elizabeth Gilbert’s Eat, Pray, Love book.  (You can click here to read it.)  I found the book facinating.  I compared it with Eckhart Tolle’s books as a resource for increasing your conscious contact with the divine.
Gilbert is hands down a talent at vividly narrating her mental thoughts, emotions and confusion.  The banter and chatter in her head is so clear you’d swear you were hearing them firsthand through your IPOD head phones. 
She described her journey from divorce, confusion and spiritual bankruptcy to conversion …

My daughter gave me a copy of “Eat, Pray, Love” and it was a book that gave me some unexpected spiritual insight.   And it was a good addition to a few others I’ve reviewed to help explore our spiritual side.  I’ve read and reviewed “Silence on Fire” (follow this link for my review). I also wrote reviews for Eckhart Tolle’s “The Power of Now” and “A New Earth“. These three books work at explaining and enlightening me about the spiritual. I recommend them, but cannot deny these aren’t the easiest …

I make a habit of attending noon Mass near the place where I work.  It’s only a few blocks down and it gives me a chance to get away from what is typically a busy and stressful day.  It occassionally also gives me a chance to attend confession.
Before Fr. Eddy even saw me coming around the separator for a face to face confession, he started aloud with his prayers. Then he stopped abruptly, “Jorge, how are you? How are you and your family?” He wore his usual smile and, as always, slowly …

I started reading “The Walk” by Richard Paul Evans on the recommendation of a blogger Monique Catoggio.  (Very cool! She’s the only other blogger I’ve met face-to-face.  Click here  to see her Being Enpointe blog post on The Walk.)
A few lines out of it’s prologue really  struck me.  The main character Alan Christoffersen  a widower says:
It’s better to be loved by one person who knows your soul than millions who don’t even know your phone number.  I have loved and have been loved as deeply as a man can hope for, …

(This is a special project and currently my personal experiment to help Catholics and those of others denominations who follow the Catholic lectionary prepare for Sunday services.  It’s currently an experiment and I need your feedback, comments and questions.  Please read on and listen to the recording to help make this project a success.)
A spiritual practice I have found helpful is reading the Sunday readings before I show up at church.  It helps me make Sunday more than just showing up and leaving an hour or so a week.  It makes it a part of …

Thoughts on the Sunday Readings [ 23:47 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

I found Ultramarathon Man: Confessions of an All-Night Runner set nicely on my keyboard.  My coworker, Robert, who knows I run and read stuff like this left it there for me.  I  cracked it open and couldn’t put it down.
Dean Karnazes writes about his 100+ mile ultra marathon running feats, but he does so much more.  Karnazes had reached the point in his life where his life had no meaning and purpose.  He had a void in his life and his six figure salary couldn’t fill it.  He explains how he turned to running, something he had love …

On Saturday, my oldest daughter will dawn her cap and gown and cross the stage to collect the diploma she worked hard to earn.   As I watch her and her friends finishing off their four years, a few things in particular strike a chord in me.  They’ve got something so many of us older folks forget.  They remind me of how important it is to make a difference in the world and how making a difference gives  meaning ot our lives.
When my daughter graduated from high school, she wanted to …

This week I discovered a Facebook page launched by a girl (probably more like woman now) from the Catholic elementary school I attended.  On it, I found yearbook pictures of me and the 32 eighth graders that graduated with me over 30 years ago.  A buddy of mine topped it off by posting our 3rd grade class picture.  (That’s me in the top middle wearing a red shirt.)
The exchange of Facebook wall messages between a dozen or so of us over the past several days has stimulated parts of my …

(This lesson continues where Lesson 2 left off.)
Do NOT Go at It Alone.  Get the Help You Need
In the book “What Color Is Your Parachute? 2010: A Practical Manual for Job-Hunters and Career-Changers” Richard Nelson Bolles says that a huge percentage of job hunters quit after two months. They just check out and stop looking. Take a look at Parachute chapter 1 for the details and statistics. (You may have noticed I pull a lot of material from this book.  As I mentioned in …

My wife’s a lovely lady. You got to meet her. Today we visited the dean at the high school my daughter will attend this fall. Now you have to picture my wife. You get her talking about any one of our three daughters (one of her favorite topics in the world) and she’s on a role. You want details. She has them. You have to realize, she goes way back with these folks.

I wasn’t able to get a word in during today’s meeting, …

If you read my Love Dare article from a year back you’ll see how I dedicated 40 days last Spring to improving my marriage. It’s not that it was on the rocks and in bad need of repair. I just wanted to take a good thing and make it better.
In my Novena article I talk about a 9 day practice I followed to help get me re-focused and balanced. There are times when I get way out of whack and I need something like this to bring …

As we look for work, wait for that anticipated raise (in this economy…right!) or hope for the right opportunity to arrive, we are forced to be patient. We set some expectations for ourselves and sometimes even attach a timeline to it. If we opt NOT to be patient, we set ourselves up for failure. We tee ourselves up for the perfect dose of disappointment. And from there to anger and resentment is a very short hop.

I spent some time thinking about this and wondered, “What is it about waiting or …

Recently, a job hunter approached me at a networking event.  He looked vaguely familiar, but I couldn’t place him.  My first thought was maybe I had introduced him to someone that got him a job, but that wasn’t it.  He was still looking.
He told me he had heard me speak on a panel a few months back.  I remembered that presentation well.  It was held at a South Beach Miami hotel.  The venue was nice and included two other panelists.  It was well moderated.  The problem (for me anyway) was …

(Warning: Be prepared for some serious spiritual discussion.)

Those of you who follow Career Jockey may remember that in early December I published Five Steps for Beating the Christmas Bah Humbug Blues.  In step #1 of the article, I committed myself to 20 minutes of daily reflection. You may also remember I was hoping for an Amazon Kindle reading device for Christmas. (See Christmas Gift Ideas to Wow Your Job Seeker.)

Well both of these came together recently when my wife gave me a Kindle for Christmas and …

I ran into Salon Angelica written by Angelica Perez, a Latina, Ivy League educated psychologist with some valuable articles for women on their careers, mental health and other Career Jockey related topics.
She just published a great article called the “The Root of Workaholism.”   It covers the topic at length helping people understand some root causes that lead to it and how to gain insight into it.  Give this article a read and answer the 20 questions she poses to see where you stand.  You too many be a workaholic.
I’ve commented …

(Editor’s Note: Ken and I ran into each other recently and he told me this story. I asked if he would write it up and I’m really glad he did. Enjoy!)
Getting laid off is never an easy thing. I have been working since I was 15 years old, working is what I do. The last time I was out of work was the last construction down cycle in 1977 and that was for two weeks. I remember how hard that was then and it …

The lines Hugh Grant, as Prime Minister in the movie Love Actually, says when his sister (Emma Thompson) calls him while he’s working – “I can’t talk, I am a very important person, doing very important things”, to which she responds, “no you are not” as only a sister could, and proceed to briefly chat, reverberates with me.
During this job search phase, networking was instrumental. I reached out to very important people, and although they were doing very important things, like Hugh, they took the time to speak with me, …

I just ran into “Get the Right Balance“, a blog post written at a simple blog site”Welcome to the Occupation” written by Paul Smith. Paul identifies himself as “an HR manager at a non-profit organization in the Northeast.” A simple guy promoting a simple way of life per this article.

Paul’s article chronicles a documentary he saw on Arthur Kane, the bass player for New York Dolls. Back in the ’70s, the New York Dolls were a thing, but by 2004 things were much different. The …

I recently wrote my Devil Wears Prada article discussing the potential outcomes of the choices we make. Few of us go out and make an intentional life or career blundering decisions. I, however, have made a string of smaller decisions, or better yet, no decisions at all that over time got me someplace all together wrong.

I’ve done it with Christmas, too. I let Thanksgiving go by without giving much thought to what comes next. The time slips by and before you know it, I shorted myself. …