Coping with a Job Loss

 

Coping with a Job Loss

Besides the loss of a loved one and the diagnosis of a severe health condition, involuntary joblessness exposes affected persons to far-reaching psychological trauma. Psychologists attribute this situation to specific underlying outcomes, including incomplete emotional development, sense of helplessness associated with a perceived lack of control, and inability to access essential, nonmonetary benefits of work. While the manifestation of anxiety and uncertainty feelings are normal in some stages of unemployment, there is no excuse for long-term depression and excessive self-scrutiny. Primarily, victims of involuntary termination must understand the prevalence of this phenomenon in every socioeconomic context. Even as short-term shock situations remain normative, affected individuals should capitalize on the existing, proven remedies to nurture emotional resilience, thereby attaining empowered mindsets to weather unemployment challenges.

Based on Zig Ziglar’s quote: “You don’t have to be great to start, but you have to start to be great,” all humans are endowed with unique competencies, which may not be activated in the state of dormancy. This observation defies the self-criticism aspect associated with too much pondering after a job loss. Hence, it offers the most practical counsel that one should gather the necessary resolve to initiate a specific constructive activity. This remedy is highly effective since it creates successive forms of motivations, which accumulate to shape a sustainable, consistent purpose. After starting, one gradually sheds off the emotional burden associated with anxiety, frustration, alienation, disappointment, and depression, thus facilitating the adoption of enthusiasm, optimism, resolve, and self-confidence to navigate the murky waters of unemployment. Concisely, after enduring the initial phases of job loss, individuals should choose a constructive task to focus on, hence setting the basis for building a sustainable, satisfactory cause, and long-term emotional stability.

Persons affected by layoffs can also address grief situations using the philosophical, big-picture perspective. This view is based on the universal belief that one’s current occupation could be a significant impediment to achieving higher value. It is also aligned with popular inspiration discourses in contemporary America. For instance, Oprah Winfrey, a US renowned motivational speaker, has consistently argued that humans are overly consumed by the recurrent socioeconomic trends; thus, they are unable to exploit their inborn invaluable capabilities. In her assertion: “often we don’t even realize who we’re meant to be because we’re so busy trying to live out someone else’s ideas,” the motivational counselor strongly disapproves of the capitalist myth, which subjects people to conventional job routines. One can interpret a job loss from this standpoint, which is hinged on the trust that something superior exists, and it requires time and effort to seize. Therefore, instead of brooding over a layoff, an individual should capitalize on the resultant, ample opportunity to take stock of life’s actual value. Concisely, this philosophical remedy entails investing time and energy to establish one’s passion, which can be subsequently nurtured to realize long-term contentment.       

Overall, both the employed and the unemployed persons need to recognize the inevitability and systematic nature of the job loss aspect. This idea empowers affected persons to assign blame to organizational and societal systems instead of self, hence maintaining the right mindset withstand unemployment challenges. As observed by the Dalai Lama, “Sometimes not getting what you want is a wonderful stroke of luck;” thus, seize the opportunity presented in your joblessness and create a long-term, sustainable value for self, family, community, and the greater humanity.