JOE MALIK: SEE WHAT HAPPENS >>>

You have a choice. You can go back, or you can go forward. It’s an easy thing to do â€" returning to some semblance of the past in an attempt to find your future. If you’ve lost your job, looking for another one seems a natural choice. But it’s not your only choice. Every fall provides us with an opportunity to get back up, look around, shake it off and choose a direction. Most people try and return to the path they were on, even if the path they were on made them miserable â€" even if it leads inexorably to a dead end.

You don’t need a job. I know that sounds stupid. But it’s true. If all the money in the world disappeared in an instant, we’d be thrown, but all the things we buy and sell would still exist. We’d have to find a new way to move it around and decide who gets how much of what, but ultimately, little would change. Or maybe everything would change. If so, I imagine it would be for the better. Change, if we own it, is always for the better. It’s never evident while the change is occurring. Usually it’s scary as hell. But we’ve all been through more change, struggle, strife, pain and seemingly insurmountable trouble in our lives than we’ll ever give ourselves credit for. Seriously, think about it. How many times have things seemed so dark that you we’re certain you’d never see the dawn? How many times have you emerged out the other side? I don’t know about you, but every time I go through the gauntlet, I emerge stronger, smarter, and sometimes happier. Suffering doesn’t have to be part of the equation.

If you’re among the jobless, you have an unbelievable opportunity. You have a choice.
Whether they realize it or not, people who still have jobs are living in a corner. I didn’t realize it until I was cornered until summarily ejected from it. Like the economic system that drove my employment and my prosperity, I had ground to a halt. I was still moving, I was still working, and I was still producing. But I wasn’t evolving, and I wasn’t alive.

Not really. See, life is about challenge. Not suffering â€" not being overwhelmed by so many challenges that you never look up or have the time to enjoy your achievements. That’s another kind of death, and it doesn’t pay as well. But every failure, every fall, every breakdown, every seemingly monstrous thing that occurs in our lives makes room for something else. That is, if we have the presence of mind to choose what we do after the fall. It’s hard to maintain presence of mind when you’re wondering how to feed yourself. But it’s possible. Try it. Look for the opportunities. They’re there. I promise.

But first, you have to get out if your own way. You have to remember that you’re part of and supported by a community, by people who love you, by friends, family, neighbors. But more importantly, you are perfectly positioned in a plan that’s bigger than the job you lost. I know it doesn’t seem that way. But where you are, right now, is right where you need to be. Try believing that for a moment, and consider your options. They’re infinite. Start your own business. Slack off. Do something that makes you feel alive. Remember what it’s like to play. Do something extraordinary. More than anything, recognize how good it feels, and try and think if you’ve had a moment that equals it in all your years of drudgery.

You have a window of opportunity while you’re adrift. Find the current. Follow that instead of your fear. See what happens.