The ticket to new adventure!
Have you ever had one of those pivotal moments where you faced a decision that would fundamentally change your life in a way that you could not possibly anticipate? Many moons ago I was a young, green accountant working my first job with a public accounting firm while I attended grad school at night. That morning at work felt bad, unfamiliar and strange. When two of the partners approached me a few minutes after starting time and asked to see me in private, it reeked of not being good for me. Business was slow, they couldn’t keep me on, did I have any questions? Wow! I sat in the chair across from them, and thought “count to ten slowly, and then think of a question.” Nothing came, I got up and went to my desk where they watched me remove my very few personal items, and, head hung low and tail between my legs, shuffled miserably out the door. It took them less than fifteen minutes to remove me from their offices.
Dazed and stunned, I stopped in the lobby of the building to call Dad, who knew everything! “Go back up there!” he barked, “ask them for references, ask them about COBRA, make them tell you if you did something wrong!” I didn’t have the stones to go back up to the offices so instead I called. They gave me a bunch of drivel that has nothing to do with this article and then that was that, chapter closed.
At that moment I was wracked with self-pity and doubt, “I suck, I’m a horrible accountant and maybe I shouldn’t even enter the field” (I was one month away from getting my master’s degree). Looking back is a totally different story, now its “thank God those so and so’s let me go!” Getting the boot at that time let me study Spanish in Costa Rica as I job hunted, helped me get into the Peace Corps which was something that I had always been interested in but too busy to do, and, by virtue of being in the Peace Corps, find my dream girl who is now my wife and the mother of my rugrat. Now I’m back in accounting but on my terms and with a firm that doesn’t discard its employees as if they were that horrible thingy stuck to the bottom of their shoe.
What were the keys that got me through? Number one, I was flexible. Although I was in my first professional job I had no debt and very few possessions, thus nothing to lose and no one to scream at me for money. Number two, I took advantage of COBRA and of unemployment insurance to keep myself insured and to keep a little money coming in. Please visit the link to read a little more about some of the programs available . Finally, and best of all, I relaxed and bridged my between job stages with doing some traveling and then, ultimately, with a stint in the Peace Corps. The Peace Corps doesn’t pay anything but they do keep you insured and in good health.
I’ve gotten a fair number of responses from people who say “sure it worked for you, Tyler, but my situation is different. I have a family and a mortgage.” Of course your situation is different, if I lost my job now I wouldn’t do the exact same thing over! However, my wife and I would be prepared and I would take full advantage of the situation, perhaps by starting my own practice and by working on my blog and other business interests that I currently do on the side. Every change is an opportunity for growth and self-development.
It is like the old parable of the Zen master. Long ago a young man was given a pony as a gift by his doting father. “How wonderful!” cried the townspeople, but the Zen master said, “we’ll see.” Subsequently, the boy was thrown from the horse and broke a leg. “How horrible”, said the townspeople, “we’ll see”, said the Zen master. A few days later the army came through and all the young men of the village were impressed to go off and fight in a distant war under brutal conditions, but the young man was spared having to go because of his broken leg. “How fortunate!” cried the townspeople, “we’ll see”, replied the Zen master.
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