There are times I feel I’m writing as an authority on what to do after losing a job. I’ve gone through it three times! Look at me, I’m an expert!
Then there are times when I feel as vulnerable as the next unemployed person, seeking answers wherever they may be.
And that’s what’s been so great about PFTA. We have this massive interdependence on each other. One falls. Another picks him up. And on it goes.
When you lose your job, no one person is any more an authority than anyone else. We’re all trying to find our way, acting on instinct and educated hunches, and lots of help from a few reliable friends.
Which is exactly what Kathryn and I experienced this morning.
Today is December 16th, which means in 9 days it’ll be December 25th, which means in 6 more days after that it’ll be December 31. Christmas and mortgage. Double whammy.
We took a quick glance at our bank account. No words…we gave each other that “Oh no, not again” look that says enough.
And then, a brilliant comment on Kathryn’s last post from a reader named Margaret:
A few years ago, on my way to work on the last day of a job that had ended, I was in an accident with a delivery van that I saw coming at me head-on in my lane. I somehow swerved over to the shoulder and stopped, so the van sideswiped the Mustang instead of smashing it. I came out of it with bruises and glass cuts, and a totaled car. My immediate reaction was, “I’m alive! I’m all in one piece!” Since then, whenever I get anxious about paying bills, or not working, or anything else that I can’t do anything about at the moment, I tell myself to quit worrying about the small stuff.
What’s the worst that can happen? A missed mortgage payment? Foreclosure? Moving to Chicago to live with Kathryn’s parents? None of that would be fun, but in each of those situations, everyone comes out alive and healthy.
Small stuff.
Thank you, Margaret.
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