The only time I was unemployed in my adult life was for a period of 15 months following the dot.com bust of 2002. The hardest adjustment for me was dealing with feeling unwanted. I was smart, capable, experienced, but I couldn’t land a job. It was depressing. It was hard getting up in the morning, taking a shower, and getting my day going. I just wanted someone—anyone—to give me a desk, a goal, and have faith that I would get it done to the best of my ability. But no one would, and it felt awful.

The only positive outcome of that experience was perspective. Knowing what it was like on the other side, and keeping that in mind when things get tough at work. When I’m feeling stressed by something, I remember that the big picture is what counts, so don’t sweat the little things. It’s 7+ years later and I’ve been in the same job the whole time. The experience of feeling that way over 15 months makes me appreciate the job I have today so much more.

I’ve been unemployed for a year (twice) and six months (once). Fortunately, I didn’t have to give up anything significant during those periods. The first time I had nothing, so I didn’t know the difference. The second two times I had a wife who was employed.

The positive outcome the first two time was that I had a job. The positive time the last time was that I got a job that met the most important criteria for me: a good boss; interesting work.

I was laid off in the 90s. I ended up starting my own consulting firm, which I really enjoyed doing.

I have been unexpectedly unemployed twice in my life. The first was during the great .com crash after working for 10 years at a major high tech company and was caught between projects during the 4th round of downsizing. The second was after 5 years at a company that decided to take a different business direction and move to being a business consulting rather than a hardware development firm.

Both times I was lucky enough to find another gig before the severance benefits ran out. However, during the time I was out of a job it was not the lack of income that kept me awake at night. It was the prospect of loosing medical insurance at a time when I had two young children.

I voluntarily ‘dropped out’ for 2 solid years to just enjoy my being.

Sort of like a mini-retirement.

Dropping indentification with roles is a huge part of one’s spiritual and self actualizing journey.

It was BLISS, “I am”...and that is all, and that is ENOUGH! ;-)

The best thing I ever did

I no longer identify with anything outside of myself as myself, the way it should be.