Yesterday the company I worked for the last eight years laid me off via a video conference call on Zoom. I was told that my position had been eliminated.
What a surreal moment to be talking to people via a video screen and to learn of such news! I’ve never been laid off before in my 25 years of working.
I’ve hit a bump in the road in an already difficult path: Loss of my job, a pandemic that’s spreading throughout America at an all-time high (yesterday broke all records with 49,000 new cases of the coronavirus in the U.S.), and more than 48 million people are out of work.
Times are complicated and volatile with the future filled with lots of unknowns.
I am worried about keeping food on the table for my kids and paying the mortgage. I don’t know how long it will take me to find a new job and there’s a laundry list of worries that could easily wash over me. I could list my fears over and over again, but that’s not going to solve my problems.
What did I do today?
I got up and followed my normal schedule (with some modifications). I went running, meditated, searched for jobs, and now I’m making time to write.
Sometimes life throws things your way and you might feel overwhelmed. I’ve been there. I understand that.
The next steps I take on the path forward are critical to leading me to a future where I want to be or one of fear and anxiety. The choice is up to me.
After a friend of mine heard about my losing my job, she responded with empathy and this advice: “Attitude is everything.”
I agree with that.
Each of us will have great challenges in our lives: the death of a loved one, loss of a job, sickness, and so many other things that we can’t anticipate.
When those hard times all compile and make it so challenging, what are you going to do?
I spent time on keeping my normal schedule but took twenty minutes to go shoot some basketball with my daughter. I watched as she laughed as she took a shot and made her two points in the net and smiled. How many times in my life am I going to be able to spend time with her and play basketball?
I could have easily postponed our basketball date because I had a networking meeting, but I kept my promise to her. I listened to her, and we talked about how I feel about losing my job and what my plans are for moving forward.
I didn’t have a father who listened to me and shared his stories with me, and we never played basketball together. Now I’m a father and I’m going through some hard times, and I am choosing positivity and giving love to my kids. I’m reaching out to my network and am offering to help others in their job search as I’m on my own.
So many people talk about one door closing and another opens. If we’re not willing to see the other door open (and we’re too stuck in our head with fear and anxiety), we will miss out on amazing opportunities.
I cannot change getting laid off from my job, but I can choose how I respond to it.
What about you? What will you choose to do when you hit a bump in the road?
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