The Five Stages of Getting Canned

1. Denial - Ah... a meeting with the boss. They're going to reward me for sticking with the company through this difficult period.
   
2. Anger - Ten years for nothing? Long nights and going the extra mile for Nothing! Screw those people!
   
3. Bargaining - Ok, maybe there's a way to change their minds. What if I just sold on straight commission for a while, just to prove my loyalty until business picks back up.
   
4. Depression - I deserved this. I should have done better. He had no choice but to fire me. Now I'm done for. That job was the only thing I knew how to do.
   
5. Acceptance - I had a job. Now I don't have it anymore. I may never really understand why that happened, but it isn't going to kill me. I'm going to take the lessons I've learned and use them to find my next job.
   

Today is the last day of the time I've budgeted for grieving about my lost job. I have done all the cussing and blaming and explaining and weeping I care to do about it. I have (with the help of my old boss) come up with an explanation for my dismissal that doesn't involve blaming or bashing the company. And of course, I have engaged in a certain amount of self-destructive behavior - missing sleep, eating garbage, skipping workouts.

Tomorrow I start my patented Pennsy Finds a New Gig Plan ®. I have a schedule for the coming week - one that treats looking for a job like it is my new job. I'll work out, clean up, and do house chores first thing, then work in my home office from 9:00 - 4:30. After that, I'll put work aside and set about being a husband, neighbor, and father figure to our small tribe of cats, Molly the dog, Dennis the fish, and anyone else God's infinite sense of humor sends our way.

I'll apply the things I learned as a sales manager, building a marketing plan based on defining my product, targeting the most attractive markets, and aggressively pursuing customer relationships.

Does this story belong on Pennsy Running? In a way, it does. This program is going to test my fitness on all levels - physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual. The fact is, this kind of challenge is the reason I started running in the first place. Not just to be thinner, but fitter. More able to meet the challenges of life, whether that means the ability to get my family out of a burning house (one of my favorite definitions of fitness) or finding a new job.

As usual, I plan to make this page part of my discipline. I want to post every night to keep myself accountable. Feel free to nag at me if I don't.

Peace,
Pennsy


The image of Dr Kübler-Ross's model is from The Outlaw Torn