Bouncing back from a tough loss

About a year ago this time, I was serving my last days as a sportswriter at The Olathe News after getting laid off. I was down — not because of a loss of income (it wasn't that much anyway), but from other losses. Loss of relationships, loss of role within a community, loss of a job that never felt like a job. It was not an encouraging time.

In the 12 months since then I have helped 46 kids learn to read, written the article that got the most hits on the St. Cloud Times website in 2009, finished a book and begun shopping it to literary agents, and been admitted to three of the top Master's in Journalism programs in the country.

I write this not to toot my own horn (well, maybe just a little bit), but to illustrate an important point: life is 10 percent what happens to you and 90 percent how you react to it.

Times are tough right now. Jobs are not easy to find, especially if you're set on finding one in a specific profession or specific geographic area. But if you're open to new possibilities and willing to work more hours than you used to for less money, there are still opportunities.

Everybody needs a little help. I had help from a stimulus package that brought my COBRA health care premiums down from a crippling $400-some per month to a manageable $100-some per month. I had help from a federal Americorps program that allowed me to make about $750 a month and have health insurance in exchange for tutoring kids who were behind on their reading. I had help from two parents who welcomed me (and an occasionally ornery dog) back home.

With a little help and a little motivation, you can turn a negative into a positive relatively quickly. I think this is something I learned, in part, from playing sports growing up. Sports teach you at an early age that life isn't always fair. Sometimes no matter how hard you try, you're still going to lose. There's some things you just can't control — like the weather, the strength of the opposition, or the health of the newspaper industry.

But you can always control the way you react to losing. You use it as a motivator, you use it as an opportunity, you don't let it drag you down — then you're a winner. There's always another game or another season coming up, after all.

A girl, a Chihuahua mix, a success story

I started volunteering at the Tri-County Humane Society this week as part of my ongoing quest to complete the 1700 hours of service I signed on for with Americorps. Monday was my orientation, but that was mainly just paperwork. Tuesday was when I started getting down and dirty with the dogs (and cats, grudgingly).

I cleaned out some cages, played tug with some puppies, replaced a peed-on blanket, retrieved a skittish cat from under some low shelves (without getting clawed, thank you very much) and did an industrial load of laundry. But the really exciting thing was... I got a dog adopted!

OK, so I didn't actually do the paperwork (I'm not qualified apparently, although I feel like I'm pen-and-paper gifted). But I did greet the prospective adopter, take out the dog she wanted, supervise as she played with it and answer her many questions (with the help of the handy-dandy info packet that I snatched off the cage before we went outside). After about an hour this gentle, quiet, four-year-old white Chihuahua mix had a new home with a very good-looking young lady. Gotta admit, I was a little jealous of that dog (for the record, she mentioned that the dog's fear of children was no problem because it was just "me and my boyfriend" at home — not that it would have made any difference. I've gotta keep things professional, right?)

So it was an outstanding day, very rewarding. If you or anyone you know is looking for a pet (and lives in central Minnesota, preferably), stop by the Tri-County Humane Society. There are some great dogs there (and cats too, if that's your thing. I don't understand it, but I'm not gonna judge).