The gift of unemployment is that your fears and attitudes are suddenly exposed in a way you can address.

Try to imagine losing your job as the parachute behind a dragster—something sudden and drastic that arrests your momentum. It's intended to get you dealing with the things in your life that need the most attention. What, specifically, does unemployment have to teach?

Losing your job places you under a unique brand of stress and brings up unique thoughts and feelings. What are they? And what are you doing about them? What actions are you taking in response to losing your job? What words do you use to describe your new situation? 

Stop and look. 

I had three basic, unforgettable responses when I lost my job: 

"We'll never be able to buy that house, now!"

"But my wife is pregnant!" (Because of the biggie: "What about health insurance?")

"What am I supposed to do now? The market for my skills is saturated!"

These responses showed me that I have insecurity and confidence issues in at least three areas—finance, safety, and my own creativity. So, my work is to develop strength in those areas. The gift of unemployment is that your fears and attitudes are suddenly exposed in a way you can address. And that's how you get stronger.

Take a look at your day to day experience. What happens when you follow the prevailing wisdom regarding job loss? You try to develop that hobby, or spend time in a cafe, or going for walks. What happens when you try to reinvent your career? Maybe you're just too stressed to get into these things fully. Maybe you can't enjoy yourself or relax, even when you've done all you can for the job hunt. 

You need to understand why. 

Maybe you're convinced you have no right to enjoy yourself until you get a job. If that or something like is true of you, don't view it as silly or irrational or nuts. Admit it. See it as true and do something about it. Under the stress of unemployment, the inner mechanisms that prevent you from enjoying your life and finding your fullest happiness come out in the open where you can deal with them. 

Unemployment strikes at some foundational insecurities but it does not create them. It just shows them to you. They're inside you all the time, affecting your behavior and your decisions. From the moment you lost your job everything you do will alter the landscape of your life and impact your happiness. It's important you begin to see what's going on inside you so you can exercise some measure of creative control.  

If you lose your job, the universe does not want you in that job anymore. It wants you somewhere else. Facing the fears unemployment brings up can help you figure out where that is. 

Ever forward.

Posted via email from Ever Forward