Lessons Learned from my Layoff: First in a Series

Okay, I'll start right off by saying I know I'm luckier than a lot of laid-off people.
I don't have a mortgage -- we rent. I don't have credit card debt, as I'm pretty tight-fisted (well, except for my Starbuck's Tall Coffee of the Day habit.) My car is paid for. I don't have kids. I DO have a husband who is still employed, and a savings account. And I'm in reasonably good health.

The fact is, i don't buy into that whole comparison gig. Or I try my darndest not to get into that mode. Being laid off is being laid off -- not matter what your financial situation is right now. Because it all could change next week!

It's a Body Blow!
Getting laid off is like getting a smack upside the head, a punch to the jaw, and a kick in the stomach all at once.
I'm someone who has, in the past, up and quit jobs WITHOUT another one waiting. I used to think getting laid off would be just like that -- only you get severance pay and unemployment to boot. Ha!

I was not prepared for the anger, the shame, the humiliation -- heck, the "perp walk" for crying out loud! The HR lady was fumbling through my purse and yanking out my Blackberry (my own personal phone -- the company hadn't assigned me one. Could they not even get that right?) And security officers at the door. Sheesh! Talk about feeling like Typhoid Mary!

You feel stunned. You keep replaying the situation in your head. Some friends and even family members seem to get anxious when you want to talk about it, like the mere mention of it will somehow entrap them in the same situation. You feel numb, just mentally staggering around.

Anger. Pain. Sadness. Humiliation. Self-doubt. Panic. Fear. Numbness. All this is perfectly normal. So how long does it last, and how to get through those first few days?

I'll share my way of handling these emotions in my next post.