Great Sports and Good Sense #2

It's a terrible thing, to be fired, I observe, thankfully, from a distance. . I don't know for sure. I've never had it happen to me, even though there was once when my contract was not automatically renewed. (Which is not the same to me as being fired)

But, to be very frank, I don't have much sympathy for these big-time college coaches who're being fired because their team has not done as well as forecast. Still, they will have additional, and sizeable, compensation for years to come, unlike the fate of many people who have unwillingly seen their jobs disappear.

The people I truly feel sorry for are of two kinds: one kind is the guy who has been abruptly released from his job without any possibility of obtaining another very soon. The second kind is the fate of those who are affected when their bosses lose their jobs suddenly. For example, when a college head coach is fired, quite often his assistants also lose their jobs. So, what do they do? Who knows? But regardless of what we do not know, we do know that the future of those assistants is very much in question, for every one of them.

So, the best thing to do is to make sure you have a safe job, not one with the risks that go with being the head football coach of a college seeking to be a leader in the field.

As is often the case, however, few such "safe" jobs actually exist, even in fields where compassion for the individual is presumed to exist, like in churches and other spiritually inclined organizations.

Thus, we are left with the conclusion that most, if not all, jobs are risky. For any number of reasons, a crisis may arise that forces those in charge to release (or fire) several people.

In which instance, if we're among those released, we are forced to confront and deal with the consequences. Maybe (and that's a big MAYBE) we have saved up enough resources to make it for a good while without a job. But if we don't have those resources, then what? We beg, we borrow, we struggle mightily to make ends meet, which is precisely why bankruptcies exist as the solution to being unable to make those ends come together.

Unfortunately, too many bankruptcies are to avoid payment, not to escape a failed-job situation. So, normal (even-headed) people avoid them when they might well use them to start anew.

Our point: we are never without options. We can always do something constructive, even when we've been fired or lose our jobs unexpectedly for reasons beyond our control.

So good sense affirms:

Above all, have faith in yourself. Learn from your mistakes. Look for a safer haven. But never cease taking risks to show that you can be a fine, dependable employee, or even a great leader for others to emulate.