Oregon's unemployment rate is about 12%, and the nationwide the average is 9.5%. These are scary numbers, and there is no question that people are suffering as a result. Every day, we are reminded of the number of jobs that have gone away, as well as the dire warnings of a "jobless recovery." The economy is bad, we are told, and it's only going to get worse. Is this really true? Or is this a self-fulfilling prophecy and another way in which we've given away our power?

Americans have grown up in a corporate society, accustomed to our institutions and the roles we play in them. For most people, this means that we expect to go to school, go to college if possible, get a job for a big company, work there for a number of years (or work for several large companies over the course of time), retire, and then hang out playing golf or whatever it is that we enjoy. This is our national job script, you could say. But what happens when that script needs a re-write?

We are living in amazing, wonderful times—times that nonetheless scare the heck out of a lot of people because we feel so out of control. Our job script isn't working. More than 14.5 million Americans, if not more, need full-time work. That's an expectation of some 14.5 million corporate jobs—jobs provided by existing companies. Jobs like we've always had.

The problem with "working for the man," as they say, is that we tend to give up a lot of power in the process. Instead of visualizing, inventing, and creating what it is we want for ourselves, the corporate world encourages us to sit back and wait for them to give us something. That something may be the job itself, benefits, advancement, recognition, money, or perqs.

Whatever it is you want in life, go out and get it. Don't wait for someone to give it to you.
—from "Peyton Place"

When we wait for someone to give us something, we have no power over the situation. We have given away our own power to create something for ourselves.

There is a false sense of security and normalcy in creating our resume and sending it out to potential employers. While we wait for a response, we are absolved of any responsibility in the process, because mailing the resume was the only action that we could identify as belonging to us. But if we take back our power and rethink employment, the responsibility lies with us alone. This is the more frightening road. How do you even start down that path?

The answer, like all answers, lies within. What, in your heart of hearts, would give you joy in a career? If you had no limitations at all, what would you do for a living? What idea has been lurking on the fringes of your mind, nagging at you? The answers to these questions will tell you where to begin, but just as importantly, asking these questions will open your heart and your mind to divine inspiration. What is your perfect career? It is whatever God needs of you.

We have been taught so long that a "good job" must look a certain way, and anything that does not conform to that box is automatically discarded. But here's the thing:  all great ideas, all great inventions came about because someone was listening to what God needed of them. And they did the radical thing, the unorthodox thing. They followed their vision. They ignored the naysayers. They believed in themselves. And they succeeded, because they knew that there is no such thing as failure. There is only learning process.

It's time that we took control of our lives and our economy. Do you need a job? Create one. It probably won't happen overnight. It may take time, effort, and a few mistakes, but you will succeed if you believe that you can. Find your passion and just start doing the work. Put one foot in front of the other. Push your flower cart, a little each day. You may not even know what it is you are creating. It may surprise you what form it takes. It may be the start of a new company, or you might attract the attention of someone who is already in a related business. Whatever you do, listen and be open to the whisper of your heart, because that is God telling you why you are here and how you are already employed.

Related articles:

• The voices of fear
• Take back your power
• Expand and accept your abundance
• Is our economy failing, or is it healing?

Originally published 8/11/2009