5 Secrets to Coping With Unemployment and Discovering Your Purpose

By Trish Zenczak

"I am sorry, we need to downsize and your position has been eliminated." These words are all too common these days only leaving families without a working parent, without food money, without mortgage or rent money and facing serious debt or worse, bankruptcy. Being faced with unemployment and having to look for a job can leave someone stressed and overwhelmed.

Minding these five secrets to coping with unemployment will not only help make the process and the waiting a bit more palatable, but they will also help discover a purpose in life.

*Things happen for a reason. As trite as this sounds in such a stressful time, keep in mind that we are supposed to learn from our journey and from the challenges and obstacles that are put in front of us. Try hard to stay "present" and calm. Ask yourself, what lesson am I to learn? What positives can I focus on? (Is this giving me more time for family at the moment? Will I get to attend my child's school play for the first time?) Sometimes, we are so blinded by the fact that we are jobless, we forget that even up until the end we begrudgingly went to work each day with such a feeling of detest. Maybe freedom came in an unexpected way in order force a transition.

*Consider a unique opportunity. All our lives we've been taught that we are to go to school, get a good job with good benefits and aim for job security. Maybe it's time to think outside the box and take a risk. Consider working from home. Consider starting a business. Consider buying a franchise. Consider what life would be like if we were working to get rich instead of making someone else rich.

*Faith. Enduring a period of unemployment, may seem like an eternity no matter how short or long the time, and that's why it vital to have faith-faith in God and faith in self. Knowing the circumstances are out of our control, may help us cope with the abundance of time we have on our hands. It's during this time that having a source of trust and having the ability to be powerless allows us to surrender to the lessons on the journey. Stay in prayer-it's amazing the discoveries that will come from it. It is also important have faith in ourselves. When we doubt our abilities, give into the fears, and nurture the insecurities, we cause delays, allow excessive laziness and create second-guesses about the experience we offer.

*Focus. Although the idea of job-hunting may feel huge, it's important to walk through the fear. Just do it. Schedule out specific time that is dedicated to job hunting and interviewing. After spending a focused amount of time on the job hunt, remember to allow time mentally and emotionally to escape the unemployment stress. Make special time for doing things with family and friends, or make special time for self development and personal growth.

*Follow through on finding a purpose. Sometimes, we have ideas that seem far-fetched; however, maybe it's time to follow through on investigating those whims we disregarded. It's during this time that we can find out what it is that we really want to do with life. Many of us dream and think about the future and how it could be different. Maybe it's time to pursue opportunities that we only secretly consider. It never hurts to research.

Being unemployed is not easy when we didn't ask for it or when hard times loom overhead. However, if we stay calm, find a new perspective and stay strong, it won't be long before we find ourselves living the lifestyle we never thought we could live. We can only attain this new freedom if we reframe our thinking and do some soul-searching on finding our true purpose in life.