I've been sitting on my butt for three years now, literally and figuratively, and it's time to end the mourning period. By this I mean I really need to go back to work. I'm tearing my hair out doing nothing day after day. I guess I'm technically not doing "nothing;" but, I am feeling a burning need to be productive, to create something or contribute to the betterment of something. For those of you still working, wishing every day was Friday or Saturday, be very, very careful what you wish for. The boredom can be mind numbing. I mean, I love my dog like nothing else in this world, and I have no complaints spending all my time with him, but let's call a spade a spade here. He's a dog. He contributes very little to my intellectual growth and stimulation. I gave him a copy of Sartre's Being and Nothingness over a month ago and I know he hasn't read it yet. When I was vacuuming the other day I found it half chewed up and stuffed under his dog bed. I thought about and then quickly rejected seeing if my dad would read it, but I seriously would have better luck with the dog.

So I decided it was time to get up off the mat. New York has a wonderful organization that helps people with disabilities procure gainful employment. It's called VESID (Vocational and Educational Services for Individuals with Disabilities). Actually, each state has one:

Alabama
Alaska
Arizona
Arkansas
California
Colorado
Connecticut
Delaware
Florida
Georgia
Hawaii
Idaho
Illinois
Indiana
Iowa
Kansas
Kentucky
Louisiana
Maine
Maryland
Massachusetts
Michigan
Minnesota
Mississippi
Missouri
Montana
Nebraska
Nevada
New Hampshire
New Jersey
New Mexico
New York
North Carolina
North Dakota
Ohio
Oklahoma
Oregon
Pennsylvania
Rhode Island
South Carolina
South Dakota
Tennessee
Texas
Utah
Vermont
Virginia
Washington
West Virginia
Wisconsin
Wyoming

There's nothing worse than feeling useless. If you've been unemployed for a while, at least try to go back to work. I promise you, doing something, (even if it's not what you were doing before or pays only marginally), is infinitely better than sitting around feeling useless. If you are still working, these websites may still be useful to you. The Americans with Disabilities Act is pretty specific when it comes to policies in the workplace for persons with disabilities. If you are struggling because of your disability, you might want to check out your state’s advocacy programs.

I've also started looking into work from home jobs. I'm lucky in that my qualifications are geared towards teaching. There are tons of online tutoring jobs out there. There are also resources that help you start up your own tutoring service. I'm sure there are a lot more websites than just this one, but give this a try to start: Work at Home Careers

You can also go to craigslist or a similar website and offer your services. When I was living in North Carolina I got several tutoring jobs thanks to craigslist.

If all else fails, volunteer. The National MS Society is always looking for volunteers willing to help in any way. You can be a peer counselor, help out in the office, or just work at specific events like the MS Walk. If you have a specific skill set, they may be able to put you to good use. This way you won't get rusty. If MS isn't your thing, there are tons of places you can go to look for volunteer work. Here's a good place to start looking : Volunteer Match

The bottom line is you've got two choices: 1) Stay at home lamenting your lot in life. This can be advantageous if what you want is to have no friends, lose all your skills, gain a bunch of weight, and be unspeakably bored for the rest of your life. If your goals are not that lofty give some serious consideration to making the best of the bad situation. Who knows? You might find something new that is infinitely more fulfilling than what you were doing before.