It seems like it was just yesterday that we all received the news but now, here we are with nearly a week of unemployment passed. Nearly five months have just flown by and what a roller-coaster emotional ride this has been! Shock and sadness start to settle in and then anger looms its ugly face only to then be replaced with a certain excitement and hope for the future…and then sadness and grief reappear. I wanna get off this ride!! As a coaster climbs ever higher to reach the apex of its journey only to fall into a steep drop then arrive back at the starting line, so our jobs and careers can soar to the highest of professional and successful levels…only to return us to the unemployment line.
For these near half century-aged colleagues, the thought of starting all over again in our job search to interview and send out resumes and applications is a daunting task. And trying not to take the layoff personally but recognize that it’s just a business decision is easier said than done as it is still tempting to fall into the “why me?” trap and feel sorry for ourselves bursting into tears randomly for our loss only to then stop immediately laughing at how silly we are acting. Life is a LOT harder for many other people. But we’ve all put in a lot of hard work and many years here in the multitude of positions we each held to get to this point and we fully expected to remain here as a part of the team until retirement age.
After over 21 years with the same firm and seeing the name on the door change more than once, I really thought I would retire from this place…change after change came and I adapted to each one. Manager after manager, team after team, territory after territory…I rolled with it all, learned new processes and new people, and always went along for the ride. But after our team received at the end of June the “great” news to relocate to either the southwest or the midwest where processing will now be centralized, I perceived that my dream would not transpire. I did not realize that it was time to be pushed out of my comfort zone.
And that’s the problem with a lot of people…we get too comfortable. We enjoy the day-to-day predictability, and we freak-out when something unexpected happens. But we should always be looking for the change and challenge…the opportunity to grow and learn. We should welcome the opportunity to become more productive and develop new ways of thinking…to bloom and develop into the best we can be.
Why remain stagnant living the same monotonous life with the same old routine day in and day out? Tackling the daily grind to perform the same tedious and mundane tasks every day is easy, yes. Too easy. It’s comfortable and it feels secure. But life with no change, no excitement, no opportunities, is boring.
Change is a good thing. I’ll say it again. Change is a good thing! Now you say it with me, “Change is a Good thing!!” Feel better? Feel hopeful for the future?
I rolled along with all the changes in management and territory and responsibilities for years while employed. So why not accept change now in this unemployed state?
And why not accept the change in order to be free of the busyness of work and finally just rest instead of going going going day in and day out? Many people work themselves to the point of exhaustion every day. The work piles up at the office and they burn themselves out trying to get caught-up but they leave and return to the job the next day and the pile is still there growing ever higher. The workforce finds themselves overwhelmed and stressed out unable to complete their tasks and unable to say “no”. Work is taken home or people work remotely from home sacrificing time with their families. There is no margin. There are no boundaries. Work begins to control them. This happened many times to our team. The joy was no longer there.
I can say that I have always had a problem with just saying “no”. The perfectionist in me wants to make sure everything is Done and it is done right! And on time! Or better yet early! But too much work and too much busyness is not healthy. It is not good for morale at the office and it is not good for the soul.
In the Bible, we hear that Job says in Job 1:21 “…The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away;” for Job was probably the wealthiest of men at that time. And he lost everything. I mean Everything—his wealth, his business, his employees, his children. Just Job and his wife were left. And their health. But he soon lost that as well. And yet, suffering the loss of these many things, Job would not curse God but the above verse ends with Job stating “Blessed be the name of the LORD.” And verse 22 ends the chapter stating, “In all this Job did not sin nor charge God with wrong.” He realized that God was still in control.
In my distress, in my recent turmoil, I am choosing to follow the steps of Job and Bless the Lord, accepting this new change in my life. Instead of going thru the whole range of emotions I’d had at the beginning from sadness to fear to anger to hope to excitement and back to sadness and anger again…such a chaotic and stressful time…instead of all that craziness, I am choosing to look forward with hope and excitement for whatever new thing the Lord wants to do in my life. Wherever He leads, I will follow. And I will continue to have joy as I follow Him.
Instead of looking at my layoff as a job loss, I am choosing to look at this transition in my life as a rest gain—a time of much-needed Sabbath and reflection. A time to experience the peace I have not been enjoying because I have been too involved with so much busyness of life to just Stop and Rest.
I recently began an online Bible study thru Proverbs 31 Ministries which is going thru the book Breathe by Priscilla Shirer. She asks, “Are we so comfortable with exhaustion that we can’t even enjoy a break when it’s forced upon us?” I would say that this layoff is definitely a break from all the crazy-busyness I have experienced over the years! I am looking forward to incorporating more margin in my life to enjoy my time with the Lord so that He can reenergize me, to make more time with family and create memories, to remove myself from the stress and demands of daily workloads, and to learn to trust in Him more fully and completely with all the details of my life. I am choosing joy.
As I journey to rediscovering rest and what the Lord has purposed for me, I am beginning this blog to hopefully encourage others as we daily walk the lives that have been set before us. Please feel free to comment with your thoughts! I look forward to hearing from you.
Until next time…Joy in the King!
Laurie
Photo credit: Pxhere
