Loosing your job

I am rededicating this writeup to those who have lost their jobs and those who are yet to lose their jobs but praying that this 'cup' should pass over them by.

Everything that has a beginning has an end. Sometimes, the end comes when we are least prepared. You need to get prepared before you quit or loss your job. The importance of achieving financial independence before retirement or laid off cannot be overemphasized.

After all is said and done, no matter how much you prepared, you still feel fear an apprehension when the day finally comes. After becoming addicted to a monthly salary, you experience anxiety the first time you realise you will be getting no credit alert this month end.

If you just lost your job, a lot will be going through your mind, ranging from anger, resentment, feeling of betrayal, apprehension, fear, etc. This is not the right time to make a decision. This is the time to get a way. You need a change of environment. Go somewhere to clear your mind. While travelling abroad will work nicely, you may not be in the best position financially to undertake such a project. You can travel back to your village, visit a friend out of town, go somewhere you can breathe fresh air and forget about the hustle and bustle of the city, take your mind off things for a while.

You mind may be focused on doom and gloom, it may not dawn on you that you are free at last. Your options are now unlimited. You can take off any direction you desire, without having to take permission from your boss or take some days off your annual vacation. You can do that thing you always desired to do one of these days, when you have the time. One of these days is finally here. You now have the time. You can go for that training, learn a skill, visit that place, volunteer in that organisation, go on a road trip, stop existing and start living!

You are where many people dream of being, but are not bold enough to make the move. You have a choice to pursue another career, look for another job, start your business, join an NGO, your options are limitless. You are also free to look after your health, eat healthy, embrace an active lifestyle and regain your vitality. You can now see how daylight looks like around your neighbourhood during the week, spend more time with your spouse and children, design your lifestyle rather than wrap your life around your job.

Losing your job will not kill you, especially if you have a dream and a life outside of your job. You cannot achieve anything worthwhile in life unless you take risk and jump. You can either jump by yourself or get pushed. More often than not, when you take a jump, the parachute does not open immediately. You may fall sharply for a season and experience things that scare the living daylights out of you. The good news is that you will touch sometime. This jump will not kill you.

One way of thinking that helps me through tough times, in addition to my faith, is referred to as back from the future thinking. I think past the present into the future. I see myself overcome the challenge and move on to greater things. I think five, 10 years ahead. I also think back in the past, of similar situations God saw me through. In the Bible, it is encapsulated in the phrase 'and it came to past...' I believe there is an equivalent in the Qur'an. I become encouraged and fully confident that this too shall past. I have come to realise that tough times don't last forever but tough people keep rising higher. I have been stranded before in practically every sense of the word - physically, financially, socially, you name it and I am still here. I become a better person after each episode. Pain is the crucible or furnace that purifies us as gold. You either come out better or bitter. This too, shall pass. You are going to be okay. You may experience bumps and bruises. That is pretty normal. You are not the only one to go through this.

Achieving great things after losing your job is a well-worn path. Sometime in the future, you will look back and thank the person that fired you.
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