I'm sure you all want an update on how I am doing since my job after 4 and-a-half years, along with several co-employees, has been terminated due to the economic downturn. I have to say, I am handling this loss quite well. I cried a lot before, I really let out all the pain that I have been experiencing, but I have been proactive about the situation. Coping with loss is tragic and never something easy to overcome. Losing a job during such economic turmoil has not been easy for me at all since I was used to receiving a regular income at a job I absolutely enjoyed working every minute of - and I know many people can agree with me on this, losing a job is like losing a person close to you. But the great news is that a past job I had in retail a while ago has taken me back, so I do have a new part time job to look forward to.
I think there comes a time in every loss where you have to accept it. Not to repeat the common notion of the "5 Steps" to overcoming a loss with denial, depression, anger, realization and acceptance but I strongly believe that you never truly get over a loss. I believe, whichever way the steps go, it will always end in acceptance. Of course, there is never really anything I can do about this loss, I can't turn the clock backwards, I can't march into head office and demand my job back till they get security to escort me out, I can't even beg for an alternate position! I just have to... accept.
You ask yourself all the familiar questions: could I have done anything? was there anything I should have done? Most often you'll find that the answer to that is "no." It's unfortunate but once you know that you've already done all you could, believed in the best possible outcomes and lived each moment leading up to the loss with a good outlook, that's what can keep you going: knowing that you lived the best way possible and whether or not this outcome was expected, it happened and you walk away with no regrets.