First let me be honest here. I'm not unemployed (yet). So everything I say here is basically bollocks to those of you who are facing the sheer terror/panic/depression of having lost meaning for 1/3 of your days. I simply hope that my past expierences with unemployment can help.

I've been fired and laid off from jobs and approached each situation very differently. One theme though that followed me through both stints with unemployment was to treat it as an opportunity (I told you this would sound bad).

Sure you say, "this guy has a job, what does he know"? What I know is that each time I lost a job it was the kick in my ass to look at myself, my strengths, my weaknesses, my desires, my skills and really figure out where I wanted to go. More importantly, taking an honest look at myself told me what I'd need to do to get to where I wanted to be. If I needed classes I took them. If I needed expierence I took crappy jobs that got me that expierence.

The great thing about taking a moment to assess yourself honestly is that it can give you a starting point or a goal when you feel adrift in a sea. There's a very good chance that I, like millions of others who already have, will lose my job in the next 12 months. If it happens though it's simply my opportunity to figure out what's next and how to get there.