by Michael Nnopu

Created on: May 11, 2009   Last Updated: May 19, 2009

Can any thing good come out of Nazareth? This was the question asked by sceptical Jews of Jesus when his presence was announced. As I was reclining on my easy chair with junior soundly sleeping on my laps and my wife bustling around in the kitchen trying to get the evening meal ready, I calmly took stock of all that has been happening in my life these past months. Although the change was not totally unexpected, yet it gave me a jolt when it finally came. I had joined the ranks of the unemployed, no thanks to recent downsizing, resizing, rightsizing, outsourcing, recession, and economic meltdown. By what ever name you call it, to all those like me on the receiving end, it all meant one and the same thing. No more frivolous spending, holidays and tours are definitely out of the question. And now, am asking myself a question, similar to the one asked in the opening sentence of this article, what benefits can there be in my present condition?

No doubt, there are two sides to every coin, for whatever has a disadvantage must also have an advantage. And it is this so called advantage that I intend to unravel to make my life and that of my family more enjoyable.

I was formerly employed in the IT industry, as a travelling salesman, who also doubled as a system analyst and an engineer. My job took me from coast to coast, sometimes; I was away from home for two weeks at a time. Married with two kids 2 and 6, my darling wife is a full time homemaker. We live in a rural community, so, we can be able to trim down our expenses to subsistence levels, so lack of a full time paying day job, I hope will not drive us to the soup kitchens.

The first benefit I could think of is my family. Nothing comforts more than family when you are emotionally and psychologically down. I derive great comfort from spending more time with Junior, (daddy do this and daddy that, though it took him some time to come out of his shell and draw close to me, not being used to seeing me around always) even I get to teach senior how to ride a bike, do her assignment from school, and other household chores that I usually had to pay for, now I get to do it myself, such as mowing the lawns, unblocking the sinks and baths. My wife, Juliet says is all the excuse I need to get out of paying for those services, (she would too, if positions were reversed) Even my old mother gets to see me on a daily bases, (am sure, her prayers has been answered for she couldn't understand the rationale behind the type of job I do), her joy at having me at a minutes notice cannot not be quantified monetarily.

The recession has also made me realise that I possess other qualities that I never had time to develop, but which I usually pay for. For instance, I have given the house a fresh coat of paint, taken up carpentry to fix broken shelves and cupboard, even auto maintenance, as I change oil, oil filter, and plugs in my car. These are services that I usually had to pay for, but, now, I have to perform them personally. No thanks to having excess time on my hands.

But the most important quality I possess is writing. I have discovered that I could write well, sell the articles and make some extra money, though not in comparable to what I was making in my day job, but still encouraging enough for me to explore ways of increasing it as it helps me take care some of my daily expenses.

To the initial question asked in the beginning, I hope History has provided a very good answer, likewise, I believe that recession or no recession, live must go on, albeit on a reduce scale, but go on it must!

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