Being without a job can be a bit scary. Trust me; I’ve been there. I was wrongfully terminated from my job. While my case was being settled, I learned some interesting things about myself. I went through a process of ups and downs and I would like to share with you what I learned.
The first thing most people would ask when I told them I was fired is, “why”. And they would all be surprised to know, I didn’t ask. I immediately knew they were wrong. It never dawned on me to ask why or to debate the issue. I literally said thank you and walked away. There were better questions than, “why did you do this to me”. And those questions were, “why did this happen to me”? “How does this situation impact my purpose? And, “how is this situation going to help me grow as a person”? You see, I knew I had nothing to gain from learning the reasons for someone else’s actions. I knew that I was unfairly attacked. I knew that I would be back on that job in a matter of time. I had faith that the issue would take care of itself. (Trust me… I knew I would be back. I even left all of my things in my office with this confidence.) While I had confidence in my decision not to ask my supervisor “why”, I struggled with my own personal questions. Here are the important questions I asked myself after I was fired.
1. Why did I get fired?
Do you hear the question? Not why did you fire me? But why did ‘I’ get fired? I believe that this happened to me so I could have a more clear picture of how blessed I really am. Losing my job helped me to use my resources (money and people). It humbled me to do things I might not would have done otherwise. I rode public transportation. I received public assistance. I started shopping in secondhand stores. But most importantly. I allowed my family and friends to be a blessing to me. I would literally give the shoes off my feet but it was difficult for me to accept help from others (even accepting gifts was difficult). Now I know no matter how low it gets there are resources that will help me make it through. I seek out assistance and I ask for help when I need it.
2. How does being fired impact my purpose?
I got the answer to this question much later than I did the answers to the other questions. But this answer has been the most life changing. I Press On was birthed from this question. I’m going to write a separate post about this process later. But I want you to know that whatever you are going through is meant to teach you how to serve others.
2. How will being fired help me grow as a person?
If you want to talk about character development, personal growth and how to gain an ultra shot of humility, have that conversation with someone who was wrongfully terminated. I had to walk around in silence as my integrity and character were questioned and even more troublesome to me as my work ethic was questioned. I had to trust the fact that my integrity would win. It was so hard not to make it about the other people involved. But I never took my being fired personally. I knew that it was about my transformation. Now listen. My heart and my mind knew all of this. But it took a minute for me to completely grow from this experience and for all the ‘knowing’ to line up with my thoughts and actions. There were times when I would think, “don’t they know I’m a single mom of two?” Or, “my God, why not just move me to a different department?” I would have to catch myself, and quickly turn the focus back on the star of the show, me. It wasn’t easy, but I finally got to the place where I only saw chances for me to grow rather than opportunities to tear down someone else.
This is a topic near and dear to me so I will definitely be discussing it further in upcoming posts. If you are without a job, for whatever reason try not to look at it as a life challenging personal attack. Instead, try to view it as a life challenging chance to be a better person. Life isn’t always easy, but we can always press on together!