You are Fired!

Getting fired is one thing that people rarely admit. I think its because it is somehow associated with failure and shame or something am not sure…. but it is rare to hear people admitting that they got fired. They always say “i resigned, i left”. Even when interviewing we always find reasons to sugar coat such an incident in our answers. Admitting it to even your spouses is sometimes hard. A friend once told me that for 6 months her husband woke up and prepared for work every morning as usual only to learn he had been fired for that long. He would spend his days at Uhuru Gardens on Langata road and then go back home as if from work. He was spending their savings and eventually coming up with excuses about money.

I will admit, it is probably worse than a break up. I mean a real break up from someone who you have extreme feelings for, then from no where they decide its over and 1 day later you see them get married to someone else. It doesn’t matter whether  you saw it coming, or it was a surprise, like any loss, when they pull the trigger, you will hurt. You will ask yourself questions, and its important to accept the part you played. If you got fired because for some reason you came to work late everyday… well that is on you, and you need to address why you got that late in the first place. If you get fired for absenteeism or non performance, you need to find out what part you played and forgive yourself. Yes you need to extend the grace you give to others to yourself. That way you are in a position to move on. There are at times that companies also cannot afford to have you around, it is within their right and that is not on you.

However, just like any loss, allow yourself to mourn. Allow yourself to go through all the processes of grief and deal with it. At the same time though, you will need to pick up the pieces. Look at that CV and update it, reach out to people who might know away out, come up with business ideas that can be implemented with what you have i.e. savings etc. Do not sit back, pick yourself up and try to move on. Remember when one door closes another one opens. Try and learn from the loss and make sure your next employer or customer will have no reason to pull the trigger. Be a great employee such that employers look for you and not the other way round.