Fired: Bad or Good - It All Depends on How You Look at It

 

I received word last week that a dear friend was laid off from her job after over 30 years of service. I felt badly for her. Losing a job, even one you don’t particularly like, can be a blow. It is especially difficult if you happen to like what you have been doing, have been doing it for a long time and are good at it.

I have never been laid off from a job. But I have been fired from a few. Being laid off means you have the possibility of collecting unemployment compensation. I never had a job that provided that possibility. Preachers aren’t covered under unemployment insurance. (Just another perk of the job.) I was just sent home with a smile, a handshake and a kick in the butt. I have been through it and there are at least two ways to look at losing a job. It can be a bad thing or it could be a good thing.

A Bad Thing:

1. You are losing an important (and possibly necessary) source of income.
2. You will not enjoy the close relationships you had with coworkers. (No matter what promises are made.)
3. You feel disposable; less than you were; unnecessary; possibly worthless. Your self-image takes a hit.
4. Suddenly you have at least eight hours a day to fill with meaningful activity. Some advice: Don’t turn on the television. It is a black hole that will consume your life. I was once ill for several months and got hooked on “Days of Our Lives.” I almost had to go into rehab. It was embarrassing to admit what it did to my friends. Especially my male friends.
5. You have to tell significant people in your life that you were fired and deal with their responses. It is always weird.
6. You walk into McDonald’s and think, “Perhaps I could work here.”

A Good Thing:

1. You don’t have to get up early to go to work tomorrow.
2. Time is freed up to do all those projects you have wanted to do when you have some free time.
3. You can stop and smell the roses. (Or whatever happens to be hanging around that might smell good.)
4. You have an incentive change occupations and do what you have really wanted to do for a living.
5. You can now take those classes you have been talking about taking or getting that elusive degree.
6. Exercise. You no longer have an excuse not to exercise. (Perhaps this should be listed under bad parts.)
7. You can find creative ways to live on less income.
8. You have time to hang out at Walmart and take pictures of the amazing outfits people wear there.
9. You can go downtown and pose as a homeless person and see if you can make more money panhandling than working a real job.

I am not saying losing a job is a good thing. I never enjoyed the experience. But, if you look at it the right way, it can open your life to new and even exciting possibilities.

It all depends on how you look at it.

Copyright © 2014, William T. McConnell, All Rights Reserved

Will Work for Food

For what seems like at least the last ten years, there was a man standing at one of the interstate highway exits near the University of Cincinnati holding a sign that read, "Will work for food." I will admit that every time I saw him I couldn't help thinking, "Well, yes. Me too. I work for food." I am beginning to believe I was wrong. I am beginning to think that I don't work for food… or clothing… or housing.

Since recently resigning my position at the church I have been serving for almost 20 years I am, for the first time in over a quarter of a century, looking at the possibility of being unemployed. I am, quite honestly, surprised at how the prospect of not having a job has unnerved me. I will admit that the cessation of income is a bit bothersome but not earth shaking. As my childhood pastor once said, "I am not hung up on money, but my creditors sure are." Fortunately, other than a mortgage, I have no creditors. That aside, having money for things like gasoline (Soon to become a major purchase.) and food and clothes does sound like a good thing. And health insurance… health insurance would be good. Making the house payments would be nice.

But as I watch and wait and listen and look for where God might lead me next, I am beginning to realize that I don't just work for food… or money or the stuff that money enables me to buy. I work for a whole lot more than that. My work, doing ministry, brings meaning and purpose and fulfillment to my life. I am told by some of my friends and colleagues that I am supposed to find meaning and purpose in other ways and what I do is just a job. And on some level, they may be correct. But I don't fully agree with them. Not since my work is ministry. Being a Christian is not something I do, it is who I am. And doing ministry is not an activity, it is not a profession, it is not a vocation, it is not a job. For me, it is a way of life… a calling of God.

So, as I pray and seek God's will for my future, I am discovering that I don't work for food. I work to fulfill God's purpose for my life. But go ahead and send the check.

Copyright © 2011, William T. McConnell, All Rights Reserved