Tips to help you smile after being fired

[brijv]

Here are tips that will help you feel comfortable if you have been fired or feel you could be fired very soon.

In today's scenario, one is lucky if one has been in a job for over one year. This is recession time, buddy, so at the drop of a hat organisations are firing employees. All it takes is the smallest pretext to get fired and well, maybe you have goofed up big time. You will in any case need to feel better. Here are tips that will take away that ‘I am a heel and cannot hold on to my job’ feeling and will help instill faith in yourself.

Get enough sleep and exercise. You maybe having sleepless nights worrying how you will pay up your car's next EMI. But fretting about it won't get you anywhere. So try and relax, confront the situation realistically and accept a few facts. Even if you have to borrow for the next pay up, so do. Maybe your family or some friend can be of assistance. But by not sleeping well or being cooped up at home you are not helping the situation get better. All the fresh air when you are exercising will release some of the stress and aid in making you think in a more focused manner. And, by jove, you need that!

Channelise all your  energy in a suitable way . Clean up your room, cupboards and the attic too (the one your mother has been telling you to clean up for the last six months) while you are at it. It will bring order into your life and definitely make you feel better. And who wants old visiting cards lying around anyway.

Network, network, network. Be honest and let everyone know of your 'am looking for an opportunity' status. Post your resume on websites, put in on all your social networking sites, also mention you are open to short-term assignments. Maybe such a chance position could have the possibility of getting extended into a permanent one. So tell everyone you are available.

Use this time to enhance a skill or acquire a new one. Learn a language, read books, travel and what the hell, try being a travel guide, dabble in a small scale business – something you always wanted to do, but never had the opportunity. Freshness and new opportunities will fill your mind and you will be encouraged to chart your own route, instead of always toeing the line.

Stretch a helping hand. Maybe you could help your neighbour with mowing the lawns, or dropping off his kids to school or taking his elderly mother to the hospital. Go to the school in your neighbourhood and tell them you'd like to be of any help. They may take you on as an assistant teacher – whether it is for music or drama, you will be happy doing something worthwhile. One good turn will attract another and surely there will be something positive in store for you.

And most importantly, count your blessings. You still have everything if you earnestly think about it, maybe even more than most people. So, send up a little prayer for the chance, however oblique it maybe, to turn your life around. Jobs come and go but people stay. Feel good and tomorrow will surely be better.