By Guest Author: Wallace Q., Socially Adept Software Geek & Digital Nomad[caption id="attachment_788" align="alignleft" width="300"]

Fired? It's not to the end. It's a chance for a new start.[/caption]The past few months have been a bit of a bummer. In the span of 3 short months, I got fired, was referred to as “old” for the first time by a junior “coding buddy”, and learned that PokemonGO is rather sad to play when you aren’t in your twenties and reside in the suburbs. Ah, age. The powerful reminder that the older you get, the more fleeting being cool becomes…But back to the topic that really matters here – getting fired. Being let-go left me a lot of time to reflect and in the end, accept and feel better about the overall situation. I know not all geeks may adjust as I have learned to, especially if they’ve never been fired before. Hence, the reason for this article.

Getting Over Being Fired is About Perspective

Let’s face it – getting fired is not pleasant. The surprise, the uncertainty, anger, and self-loathing is something humans try to avoid. But, it IS possible to feel better about the situation and not let your emotions get the better of you by looking at the positive aspects of your immediate situation.

You Finally Have More Time

Remember all those things you’ve said you’ve wanted to do or things you didn’t have time for while you were working what seemed like 24x7? You can do them now! Your schedule has been freed up by 40% at least. Your time is 100% your own, unless you have familial commitments. I had more time to finally learn a new language, read a few books I’ve been meaning to, start a new hobby (geocaching), commit to exercising more, and found that doing all those things only helped me to be a better person.

You Don’t Have To Deal With Co-Workers, Bosses, or Customers

You shall no longer have to deal with yet another stupid question, a missing lunch, office politics, or saying “sure” when all you really want to say is “how about no” – at least not from any of those people you used to see and interact with almost every day. If you want to continue communication with any former professional ties, you can on your own terms. LinkedIn, Facebook and other forms of social media will allow you to filter your people preferences accordingly…

You Can Take Your Career Any Direction You’d Like

There’s no better time to chase that career dream or goal you’ve always had. Want to become a Sea Urchin Diver? Now’s the time to turn that scuba hobby into a new job. Thought about starting your own business? Go for it. Eager to pursue that bigger role at a dream employer? Take the chance! Your career future can be written any way you’d like.

You’ll Learn What And Who Really Matters

Getting fired reminded me what and who really matters. I had forgotten since I had not been fired in over 17 years. A lot had changed, while some remained the same. I was quite fortunate to have a small inner circle of family and friends to offer encouragement and support. I learned that family, eating, keeping a roof over my head, paying the bills, not going into financial hardship, and my health will always be far more important than anything else. (I knew this before, but getting fired certainly reaffirms these things.) Once you’ve learned what and who really matters, you can make a plan for cutting out what doesn’t and leading a simpler (and often happier) life.From Getting Fired To Moving OnGetting fired can be a very traumatic thing. It’s important to keep things in perspective and know that it will pass. You WILL be employed again. Your value as a human being does not decrease based on some employer’s inability to see your worth. I found that reaching out to the community over on Reddit/r/GetEmployed to not only be helpful, but good for a morale booster, too. People get fired and hired every day. When you accept a new job, you’re former place of employment will become only a line item on your resume and a distant memory.