Every one of us has had those times in our lives when we can't find a way out or a real-time solution, which causes us a lot of stress. We enter a state of depression where we lose all hope and start thinking negatively. There is always a right door that could lead us in the right direction, but finding that door becomes the most difficult task for us. In fact, we often start overthinking and drag ourselves into the darkest zone where recovery seems impossible. This is the time when we need our loved ones the most—to support us in order to get out of that dangerous state of depression.
I have experienced these situations a couple of times in my life, and every time, my parents and my brothers helped me out in those situations. I would like to share one of those situations with you guys. I had my first proper job in 2013, and after working there for 1.8 years, I decided to quit and go to Sweden to my brother to try out my luck and settle there. I did the same, and my brother helped me in getting a visit visa. I was in Sweden for the third time, but it was my first time when I was there to achieve something. My eldest brother never demotivates me, but he always wants me to stand up on my own and make proper decisions so later I won't be able to blame anyone else for those decisions. He told me that I'm free to do anything, but just make sure nothing goes illegal. Asylum, student, working in black—just think before you do anything. I wasted my time thinking about what I should do, and in the end, I decided to go back to Pakistan as I am not comfortable with anything in Sweden without my parents. Maybe this was the excuse to run away from those opportunities. I do agree that I made some wrong decisions.
Knowing that I do not have any responsibility, I was not taking anything seriously. But then, the time came when I started thinking about my job, which I thought would be very easy to have when I returned to Pakistan. I had almost 2 years of experience as a travel agent, so I thought it would be an easy peasy task for me to get a new job. I started applying at several travel agencies, but unfortunately, none of them called me. In a couple of months, I realized that the market was getting really tough and there was too much competition, and getting a desirable job as a travel agent was not that easy. Still, I didn’t give up and kept trying, sharing resumes with friends and searching online.
Slowly, I was dragging myself into a dark hole. I looked tough on the outside, but deep inside, I was regretting the decisions I took—quitting a good job for something for which I hadn't prepared myself well. I just wanted a job in a travel agency, that’s it, and nowhere else. I was thinking, why were others who were not better than me, getting good jobs in the same field, whereas I had good experience and still not getting a positive response from anywhere. I was so sad about this, and it was really hurting me. Four months passed without any luck, and I was hopeless and overthinking, blaming my past, which was a useless thing to do, I realized that later.
My parents knew that I was depressed and going through the worst time of my life. Although they never ever insisted on me doing a job forcefully or due to the needs of our home, they motivated me by saying that if I am not getting any response for a travel agent job, then try out my luck and apply for other jobs too. Now, I got some hope, and I started applying for other jobs as well. In a month or so, I got some interview calls, and it all went well. Still, in the back of my mind, I was looking for a travel agency and kept rejecting other offers. At last, I accepted one offer for phone banking. It was from one of the valuable banks of Pakistan. I was not 100% interested in that job, and on the day of joining, I called and rejected the offer. It was so unprofessional, and I know it. Being jobless pushed me to accept the offer, but later, I thought of giving one more month in the search of a travel agency.
Almost six months of a jobless life, I was feeling awkward at home, so unhappy, and feeling distressed. I called to retake the rejected offer, and luckily, the person there was very much cooperative and gave me a second chance by saying that this will be your last chance or else if you reject again, you will be blacklisted in all banks. Seeing no other way out, I opened this door of happiness to get out from the darkness of depression which was spoiling me time by time. I realized and made up my mind that I have no scope or future in a travel agency, and it is the time to move on with what I have in hand at that moment.
This is how I finally escaped my jobless depression by accepting something which I didn’t want to do, but this door surely opened several other opportunities for me. Sometimes, it is better to go with the flow instead of getting trapped in quicksand and hoping that someone will get us out of it. It's better to use your own equipment and efforts to cross the quicksand without getting stuck. Wait for the right time, but who will decide what the right time is? I learned a lot from this experience.
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