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12 years ago today, I was laid off. As I type this, I can feel the pit in my stomach that hit me the moment I was notified. Losing one's job isn't just about losing a paycheck. Yes, that hurts. But, it cuts much deeper. 1/
My wife and I had just purchased our first home less than a year before. We were trying to start our family. We were trying to make our dreams a reality... and then in an instant, it all stopped. 2/
How were we going to afford our mortgage payment? Would we ever get the medical treatments we needed so we could become parents? The mountain seemed insurmountable. 3/
I felt like a miserable failure. I stopped being able to provide for my family. My wife continued to work, but her salary alone as a speech-language technician in the local school district would not be nearly enough to cover our modest monthly expenses. 4/
My sense of self was badly damaged. It is easy to tell somebody that your job doesn't define you. But when somebody is in the midst of a crisis and watching their dreams disappear, that guidance just adds salt to the wound. 5/
I was extremely lucky. I was only unemployed for 6 weeks, and I landed on my feet with a higher paying job with better insurance that allowed my wife and I to start our family... in the midst of the Great Recession. 6/
I won't say that there's a silver lining out there for everybody who has suffered a job loss. Some are going to be permanently damaged financially, emotionally, professionally, and personally. 7/
I guess the point to this thread: losing one's job is awful. The toll is more than financial. The strain I felt cut deep into my sense of personal worth. 8/
If you're struggling as I did, take a breath. It may not be an easy road ahead. It will be painful. Some dreams may disappear completely. That's ok. That's part of being human. Let's be human together. end/
