Finding Myself Again after Losing My Job..😢💔💪🏾

Just one week into a promotion at work, I received the shock of my life. Hahnemann University Hospital will be closing on September 6, 2019. This announcement sparked instant tears in the packed auditorium and soon enough it would make headlines across the country. The place where I’d spent pretty much all of my twenties, dedicated seven years in three departments, worked through three years of grad school and made numerous friendships would soon be closed for business. Imagine a bomb like that being dropped on you at 8 A.M. Furthermore, imagine having to still go to work after a bomb like that was dropped on you at 8 A.M. C’est la vie.

Naturally, I went into survival mode, determining all of the things that I would no longer be able to do given my new circumstance. Celebrating my new promotion with a trip and purchasing a car would all be unattainable, I decided, and extending a hand to help loved ones would be too far of a reach. I had gone from being the helper to almost feeling helpless. I knew I didn’t want to rush into just any old job, but not having much structure to my day became a struggle. I soon became like a hermit crab, finding too much comfort in my shell and cutting myself off from the outside world.

I lost the motivation to blog and attending social events was the last thing I wanted to do. I didn’t know what to say or how I’d refer to myself when asked what it was that I’d done for a living. The word ‘unemployed’ just didn’t fit who I was yet calling myself an entrepreneur was like a disrespect to those who actually were. But one thing I did know was that how you think and speak of yourself determines who you will be. A change of perspective was much needed.

As I listened to different sermons, I remember hearing the following passage:

“So I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten, the crawling locust, the consuming locust, and the chewing locust, my great army which I sent among you.

– Joel 2:25

While losing my job felt like a death sentence, sprinkled in between is God’s promise to restore all the years that I had lost while I was too busy. The quality times with loved ones, the quiet times with God, time to truly find myself and what I wanted had taken a back seat to work. Through this series of unfortunate events, I now have the time for those important things in life. What is a great loss is shaping up to be a great, new beginning. Furthermore, God was and is my source. By limiting what I believe I am able to do in my current state would ultimately be limiting His power in my life. How’s that for a perspective change?

If you’ve ever lost a job, how did you cope? Did you see the glass as half empty of half full? Comment.

– A Black Girl About Town