Thoughts on losing a job
“Getting fired is nature’s way to telling you that you had the wrong job in the first place.” ~ Hal Lancaster, in The Wall Street Journal
I want to talk about job loss. These days, way too many people are losing their jobs. No matter what you call it — getting fired, laid off, let go, downsized or furloughed — the end result is still the same. The loss of income, security and a sense of identity. You no longer have that familiar place to go each day where you can contribute to a team. You miss your friends and co-workers.
Have you ever been let go? I have, and believe me, it can be frightening. You talk about a major emotional stressor…the Holmes and Rahe Stress Scale says job loss is the 8th most stressful event in our lives, following a family death, divorce, jail time and illness. Sort of explains why we’ve got so many stressed out folks in our communities.
Perhaps losing your job wasn’t your fault. Maybe you were a victim of cost cutting and there was nothing you could do to prevent it. Or, maybe you were terminated because you didn’t get along with your boss, or you messed up a big project, or you were late one too many times. You can bang your head against the wall trying to figure it out, and feel guilty and regretful wondering what you could have or should have done differently. But, the simple answer is that life is not static or predictable and sometimes, in spite of everything we try to do to control our days, things just happen. We are not the CEOs of the universe and the sooner we understand that the better off we are.
But in my mind, there is a sweet side to the bitterness of job loss. And that is, it provides us with a most splendid opportunity to start anew.
There is a long, long list of people who have been fired, and I bet you’ve heard of some of them:
- Bill Gates
- Walt Disney
- J.K. Rowling (Harry Potter fame)
- Winston Churchill
- Abraham Lincoln
- Elvis Presley
- Michael Jordan
- Oprah Winfrey…and on and on.
Some of the most famous, influential people in our history have been canned — some more than once — before they went on to greatness.
You’ve heard the story about whenever a door shuts a window opens. A job loss can be precisely that opportunity. I will be writing more about this topic in future posts. In the meantime, let me know if you’ve ever lost your job and what you did to move forward.
Thanks for visiting Murphy Writes.
