Some new developments.

So. Awesome people.

For a little while now, I've been looking for a job. Partly because I want a job that I'm a bit better at/am more happy with than my current job (not that I don't like the job, but it is a bit of a downer when you know you're the worst one at it); partly so I could actually save up some money to get my own place sometime soonish; and partly because my uni degree was finishing up, so something a trifle more regular would be cool.

The main problems were that I had a) basically no experience; and b) basically no qualifications. I mean, I've done stuff, and I've learned stuff, but not really relevant stuff to jobs, in the main. So when I see a job, and I think, "Oh, that one looks good!" I click on it and see - requires 5 years of relevant experience and a degree in whatsisname. Twas a bit annoying.

But.

Then I managed to chance across this other one. It was a two year trainee position, that gave you Cert III/IV in Outdoor Recreation. With a company that did treks and such. I looked them up, and discovered that the guy who founded and ran the company had actually worked at my old high school. (Among other things, he ran the Chess Club while he was there. Twas good.) So that was interesting.

So I got in touch with him, asked him a few questions about the position, went back and forth a couple of times. Eventually sent him along my resume. A bit later - early this month, I think - he rang me up and asked me to come in for an interview. I'd actually only just woken up, so that was somewhat interesting. Thankfully, I'm a bit of a morning person, I can wake up in a snap if I need to. So I went to the interview.

It was at a place about half an hour away from where I live, and a nice scenic drive. The place it was was essentially a warehouse/shed type shenanigan, with an office rigged up the top. He and his office-person (can't remember her name) did the interview, and it went pretty well. I've had a total of two interviews before this one; one lasted less than a minute and only had a couple of questions, the other was pretty laidback. And, to be honest, this one was too, to a degree. Not in the sense that they weren't taking it seriously, but in the sense that they didn't try and make it too business-like. They were quite relatable, which was good. I fuddled round a bit (apparently, spellcheck accepts fuddled, but not relatable; I think there is a problem here), but I tried to be honest. True, I probably focussed on some things more than others; but not in such a way that would say I was someone that I wasn't. And, in a couple of places, I did say that I wasn't too great at something.

But I think it went pretty well. I went out of there feeling quite positive, and went over to Common Grounds Cafe for morning tea. (Had a macadamia and apple slice/cake type thing, was delicious!)

And then, last Friday, I get another call, offering me a job.

:D

I think you can guess as to my response.

I was a bit hyper after that. I recall possibly jumping around a bit. Or, at least, being quite bouncy.

It's a full time job, five days a week. I start on January the 22nd, and it's with these guys here: http://www.boomerangadventures.com.au/ And it's going to be awesome :D

Oh, and God seems to like changing things round a bit, just when you get used to them. After all, if you get too comfy, you're not really learning, are you? :)

Thoughts on friends.

I've been spending a bit of today just watching Dr Who. Because there was a lot of episodes on TV, so was just watching them one after the other. Then lunch interrupted it, though, which meant that when I got back, it was in the middle of an episode. No good coming in in the middle of an episode, particularly for drama type stuff. So I just wandered around. There wasn't much else around to do, so my mind started to do what it likes to do when I'm not doing much. It started drifting. Off to things that get me somewhat depressed.

As such, I thought I'd come on here and chat to a friend of mine, who's generally pretty good to chat to for this sort of thing, even just to keep me distracted. But they weren't on, which was a bit annoying. What they had done, however, was put up a few posts since I'd been on last. So I went and read those. And I was interested to note that they basically had the same effect - well, not exactly the same - but they cheered me up, and distracted me a bit.

I suppose that made me think that that's, perhaps, a good way of telling how well you relate to someone - if they can cheer you up even by the breadcrumbs they leave behind - maybe not even ones specifically for you - then actually interacting with them must be pretty darn good. Just a thought.

All the best for all the rest.

Sorry I haven't posted up recently. Been busy here in Perth. In Perth, actually, it's not Christmas Day yet.

I'm sitting outside, there's a nice cool breeze blowing; I've got a great view of the city, the river, the sky. The latter is quite spectacular at the moment, actually.

I'm aware that some of you may not be having Christmasses as nice as mine. Perhaps your family don't get along, or you don't get along with them. Perhaps a sadness of late still hangs over you. Perhaps you don't have Christmas.

But whatever the case; I pray that you, and those around you, will have the best of times; both now, and ongoing.

Have a good one. :)

The Search For Happiness.

Sorry I didn't get this post up sooner, guys; I was away for one week, and then this past week I've had various things happening - actually had an interview for a job, and will be let know shortly if that works out! :D So that's pretty cool. And it's sounding like a really nice job as well. But more info on that soon, hopefully. Back to what this post is actually about.

Happiness is a great thing to have. It can, however, be somewhat difficult to keep at times; remaining optimistic through troubled times is tricky at best. And happiness can come from so many different places, for so many different people: sometimes its in circumstances, in actions, in people, in objects, in places - it can be so varied that its a bit hard to pin down. That's not necessarily a bad thing, of course; sometimes things need to be like that, and if we try to pin them down, they lose a lot of what makes them so amazing.

If you see happiness as the most important thing, you can take a couple of different approaches; you can try to chase after it, or let it come to you. I'll elaborate a bit on them both.

People, generally speaking, are pretty aware of what things make them happy. If they think being happy is important, often they'll simply doing it by having a lot of those things; whether that means doing the same thing many times, having large amounts of something, being around a particular person a lot, going to a place frequently - there are different individualities and specifities, but essentially, they're the same. Seeking out, chasing after happiness.
And the problem with that approach is that, after you start doing the same thing, or having the same thing, quite often - it begins to grow a bit more tedious. That's just the nature of us as people - we like new things, something original and different. Perhaps if that in itself is what gives you happiness, you might do a bit better; but even then, I think it wouldn't last. It wouldn't be able to keep you through the tough times. That's the problem with this sort of happiness; you instigate it, so if you can't do that, it fails very quickly.

But what if you don't do that?

Well, you can do something a bit different. Instead of searching for happiness, you let it come to you. It's other-centred, rather than self-centred. In serving, helping and loving others, they will often do the same back to you; and in this, a greater happiness can be found than any that could by searching for it yourself.

So, in summary; happiness is fantastic, as long as you aren't going about it the wrong way.

I am heading off to Perth this Tuesday afternoon; I may be able to get up my next post before then, but if not, the last two in this series I'll do over there.