Three Things I Learned from Being Laid Off
Around this time last year, I had just been laid off from my job as an elementary school teacher, and at the same time, I was going through a difficult break up. The lay off was devastating to me although I cannot say that it was completely unexpected. I had become noticeably unhappy at my job and there had been growing tensions between the school’s administration and me.
Although on the one hand, I was slightly relieved by the idea that I didn’t have to return for another school year, getting laid off provoked a lot of depression and anxiety in me. I felt a lot of uncertainty around how I was going to get my life back together.
A year later, I can look back upon this time and feel grateful. I’m the happiest that I have ever been in my adult life, and I learned a few very important lessons along the way.
1. I Am Not Defined by My Career.
The idea of having to find a new job in a different school was scary to me. Not because I’m afraid of interviewing or meeting new people, but because I knew deep down that I didn’t love teaching anymore. It’s difficult to try to purposefully establish your position in a place when you’re actually questioning if you really even want to be there or not.
I had begun feeling a strong disconnect from my career about three years before I was actually laid off from my job. I had begun to realize that even though I loved and valued my students, I probably wasn’t in the right career path. I didn’t love or even really agree with most of what I was mandated to do. I didn’t look forward to going to work in the morning, and I wasn’t up late on Pinterest getting ideas of cutesy things to put up on the wall in my classroom as many of my colleagues often were.
Even though I had noticed my unhappiness, the idea of leaving teaching had been scary. It’s what I studied in college. My parents were always talking to their friends and anyone who would listen about how proud of me they were. Yet, at my core, I still didn’t feel that it was right for me.
Getting laid off gave me the courage to leave my career once and for all because I couldn’t stomach the thought of reestablishing myself in a new position that at the end of the day I knew I didn’t want. I had gone on a few interviews, a few of them very promising, but at the end of the day, I couldn’t visualize myself working in any of those schools. I knew that it wasn’t what I wanted. I finally made the decision to stop pursuing a teaching career. Once I made the decision I didn’t look back, and I’ve never been happier.
We are forced to make big life decisions at such a young age. Sometimes we may get it wrong, and that’s okay. We should not feel anchored to our careers. Our careers do not define us. We are not locked into them. We are allowed to change our minds, no matter how scary that may seem.
2. My Happiness Matters
It wasn’t until I left my job that I realized how truly unhappy it was making me. Once I didn’t have it anymore, my life became way less stressful. Sure, I no longer had a job, and I definitely needed to begin to figure out my next move, but even that stress didn’t feel as stifling as the stress of having to go to a job every day that I hated.
I no longer felt underappreciated or fake. I actually felt as if a giant weight had lifted, and I felt like I was ready to explore my options and figure out what I was going to do next. Although job searching became my main priority, which was kind of scary at times because I wasn’t sure what I was going to end up doing, I still felt better than living a lie and telling myself that I was happy doing something that I clearly wasn’t.
I’m still unsure of what my ultimate career will be, but I am truly happy, and I have no complaints about that. Right now I have two part time jobs that allow me to be myself and pay my bills, and I have been able to reconnect with my passion, writing.
I’m so happy doing those things that I feel confident that everything else will fall in line eventually, but at the moment, I am just enjoying the fact that I can live my life on my own terms while still being able to fully support myself. I no longer dread going to work, and the stress of my jobs never stays with me once I walk out of the door to leave for the night. I don’t bring any baggage from work home with me, and I am so much happier because of it.
3. The People Who Love Me Will Continue to Support Me
As I mentioned before, one of my biggest concerns was letting down the people that cared about me. Being laid off was difficult enough, but deciding to make a big life choice such as leaving my career was even scarier. I was mostly afraid of disappointing my parents.
I was the first person in my family to go to college. My parents were so proud of me, and they would often brag about me being a teacher any chance that they got. I knew that they didn’t understand my decision to leave teaching. At the end of the day, I made a choice. I chose my own happiness over pleasing them. It was the best choice that I could have made.
It didn’t happen overnight, but eventually they came to not only understand, but to support my choices. They have noted how much happier I am now, and in turn that makes them happy.
All of my friends and family supported me during a difficult and trying time. I’m sure it wasn’t easy. There were a lot of tears, and months of unemployment and borderline depression, but I came out happier and wiser on the other side. The support that I received showed me who truly matters in my life and is worth my precious time and energy.
Often times, our darkest moments will help guide us to our brightest realizations. I didn’t see it at the time, but I can confidently say now that getting laid off was one of the best things that could have happened to me, and I’m forever grateful for the growing experience.
*If you liked this article and you’re interested in keeping up to date with what I’m working on, please click here and join my mailing list! Thanks for the support!
