Although I didn’t have 12 years with the employer who let me go, I felt some of the same things you felt (mostly the anger:-) I know I was a great employee and I also know that management had been spiraling out of control and that management, and not my work product was the reason for my layoff.

I handled this layoff very differently though. A friend of mine told me “congratulations” when I told him I’d been laid off. I immediately saw the layoff as a blessing – a challenging blessing – but a blessing nonetheless. And that’s exactly how I’ve looked at it since. I’ve used the opportunity to get some additional training and give my entrepreneural dreams a serious shot for the first time in my life.

I stayed at my previous employer as long as I did because I wanted security. When I finally realized that there is no security but the one you create for yourself, it allowed me to finally have the faith to step out on my own.

I’m no longer angry, I’m inspired, and grateful for everything -the good, the bad and the ugly – that happened during my time with my previous employer.