Each and every year in our country there are thousands and thousands of people who are fired from their jobs. This is true for a plethora of reasons, not to mention those who are laid off during a downturn in the economy. Of course, most of these people are hired back when things pick up again.

My wife Janis tells me that back in the days when Pickles Gap Village was going strong, she had a unique way of firing employees who were not working out. She said she semi-fired them. She would just lay them off and never call them back. In most cases, getting fired from a job is a very painful experience. Of course, it does not have to be, and quite often it turns out best for the employee who is fired.

Along these lines I heard a very interesting story that will certainly bear this out. However, before I get to this story, I would like to ask you a somewhat personal question. Based on your age this question may or may not be relevant, but here it is: Have you ever been fired from a job? Well, to be sure a lot of people have, but there are also a lot of people who have quit before they were fired because they were just not happy. I am sure you know that an unhappy employee is not going to do their best work, regardless of the reason or reasons they are unhappy.

To the glory of God, I have never been fired from a job. I have quit a couple, and the last time turned out to be the greatest blessing I have ever had, as it led to a 50-plus-year career. But let me get back to the real purpose of this column. There are several factors to consider here, but when it comes to working in a close environment with other people, there is one factor that is very, very important. This is to have the right chemistry between you. My friend, I hope you will give this some thought because it may be a lot more important than you realize. You see, many people get fired because they can’t get along with their boss or some of their co-workers, which is another way of saying the chemistry was not right.

At this point, let me get back to the story about the man who was fired from his job. This man was a school teacher and, as he said, not a very good one at that. Unfortunately, he was one of those teachers who was bored. As a result, his students were bored, too. At the beginning of the next school year, his contract was not renewed, which is a nice way of saying “You’re Fired.” As he thought about his situation, it finally dawned on him that he had actually been fired from his job. It made him mad. So mad, in fact, that he got a job as a salesman and set out with vengeance to prove himself. As I said earlier, this is a true story. Today he is earning more than $100,000 a year and is not only a great salesman but is very happy doing it. The turning point came for him when he said, “I had to get fired before I got fired up.”

You see, life is kind of like an elevator – when something bad happens to us, we can go up or down. It all depends on how we react. It is not the end of the world if we get fired from a job. In fact, it may be just what we need to fire us up, as it’s left up to us as to which button we push in terms of going up or down. In a small percentage of cases, getting fired can be good. However, here is a word of caution – the person who gets fired two or three times in a row from different jobs better get serious about finding out why. We may be like the comic strip character Pogo: “We have met the enemy and he is us.” You may want to share this column with someone who has just been fired.

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(Editor’s Note: For a personally signed copy of my new book ‘Your Future Begins Today’ send $20, which includes postage and handling, to Jim Davidson, 2 Bentley Drive, Conway, AR 72034.)