Thank God, I only Lost My Job!

If you ask the question, chances are that most of us remember where we were on that dreadful morning of September 11, 2001. That year, I was working as a product manager for Canada's largest Web portal. Back then, Web advertising revenues were not at the same level as they are now. The business model was fine, it just needed a little bit more time to kick-in the profits.

So, on September 8, 2001, my boss called me into his office to announce me that I, along with a few dozen other employees, was no longer employed in their company. Now, the world changing events that occured the following days had the impact of freezing the job market for the next four months.

At the time, my wife and I had two young children and she was a stay-at-home mom. I ended-up finding work six months after being fired, but this period of time had many effects on me. I remember one event in particular with strong emotions.

Around January, I came across a former co-worker. We were not close friends, but knew eachother well enough to carry a conversation that made some sense. When I asked how he was doing, he told me that one year earlier, his nine years old son had been hit by an automobile. He also told me that his son, who was a beautiful and bright child, was now undergoing rehabilitation, and learning to eat by himself.

From this day forward, I never complained again for such events. I lost my job two more times over the following four years, and we had a third child during that period. Every time my attitude was getting lower, I reminded myself of my friend and kept saying to myself: “Thank God, I only lost my job!”

This works for me. Whenever we feel our attitude going down, we must always remember that some one is always having it worse that us.

If you ever had a similar key learning moment happen to you, feel free to share it!