Last week, I got fired. I had only worked at the institute two weeks, and I was on a scheduled vacation that had been part of the agreement when I had been hired. That, together with renegotiated work hours and pay. Imagine my surprise when I was about to travel to my third city and on the way to the airport, I get a message saying my tenure with xyz has come to an end.
To be fair, it was very nicely worded. Top points for whoever wrote that message, full of phrases like ‘this is no reflection of your performance’, ‘the work load has made us hire a full time teacher in your place’, and adverbs like ‘regrettably’. I’m a writer. I can appreciate good writing when I see it.
What was a mystery to me was why I had been hired in the first place if it wasn’t even sustainable to keep me for two weeks. Human error? A bad judgment call; an overcommitment? I was no stranger to either. Human beings are complex creatures, but more often just unpredictably bad decision makers.
What being fired from the first job I have had in years (having worked for myself for a long time) taught me:
1. Sometimes you need to be fired to move on, especially if you lack the courage – an inherently human trait – to make the change without an external force.
2. Every rejection, abandonment and yes, ‘termination’ is in fact an opportunity, a door closed/a door opened if you will, even though you may not see it yet. Especially when you do not see it yet.
3. Everyone is allowed to change their mind. As long as they’re not being unkind or manipulative, they get to change their mind in whatever way they think is necessary. That way may sometimes seem cowardly to us in the moment, or perhaps even vindictive.
Eventually, we realize, it’s not.
Realistically, I also know this realization will only fully set in after I’ve used getting fired as a springboard to write more, or become a journalist, or learn two more languages or something.
I’m human after all.
Written by : raaziasajid
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