If you’ve recently lost your job, you may not be in a very positive mindset. So, the idea of an “up side” of being laid off may be unimaginable.

Adjusting to the news of losing your job and creating an alternative to what you’ve been doing takes time and involves a range of emotions and questions that often include: why me and what now?

If you shake off your fear, anger and resistance long enough to consider what you want and not jump to conclusions about what’s possible, you may begin to get a glimpse of a new opportunity.

There are so many stories I could recount about people with whom I’ve worked over the years, who found rewarding new careers, launched businesses or earned the degree they thought was not possible—all as a result of losing their jobs.

While the details are all unique, one fact threads through each situation: new options in life sometimes emerge from a loss, but always involve taking a risk and looking beyond what is known to you.

Perhaps when the time is right, you might shift your attention from what you thought would be your life and work to discover what is in store for you.

“We must be willing to get rid of the life we’ve planned

in order to have the life that is waiting for us.” - Joseph Campbell