OK, what about the nightmares?

Well, hopefully you’re taking some time off before you begin your job search. During this time you will most likely find it difficult to sleep or you may even experience panic attacks. This is normal and quite understandable. After all, you’ve been cut loose from a defining part of your life. It is possible that you may even feel somewhat abandoned. Most of us identify ourselves with our careers and our employers. It’s a proud thing to say to someone, “I work for the Coca Cola company” or “I work for UPS.”

Being unemployed does not mean that you are not a professional at what you do. A teacher is a teacher whether or not she/he is working for a school. The same is true for a journalist or a musician or a scientist or an actor or a landscaper or a housekeeper or a bus driver or a pizza delivery person or a ditch digger or a baker or a doctor or a lawyer or a warehouse worker or a CEO or a producer or a programmer or a daycare provider or a barista.

So, if you are asked about your career during this period in your life just state what your profession is and nothing more.

Even though this unemployment “freedom” was thrust upon you, it is now yours to enjoy. Try to do so.

The nightmares are merely growing pains. As with all things in life they, too, will pass.

Mark