That is one way to be in face of the situation, certainly an understandable human response. However, given what we now know about the effect our thoughts and attitude have on our reality, another response might be more appropriate and beneficial.

If you have already lost employment, as several people I know have recently, the worst thing you can do is allow yourself to plummet into fear, failure, hopelessness, helplessness and victimization. "Woe is me...look what the world has done to me" might get you some sympathy and understanding looks, but it won't make any difference. That attitude will color your interactions and relationships as you look for new work. In a highly competitive job market it is crucial to project a positive outlook, to make ourselves as desirable as possible to the prospective client or employer. With so many qualified candidates competing for the same slots, we need to do whatever we can to give us an edge.

Though we may not be able to control global financial markets or even an employer's decisions, we can always choose how we are going to be in response to any challenge life throws our way. It is in this sense that we are always at choice -- that there are no victims.

Viktor Frankl was an Austrian psychiatrist who spent years in a concentration camp, an experience he references in his book "Man's Search for Meaning."
One of the things he observed was that those who survived were not necessarily the strongest, or the most intelligent, or most attractive, but those who seemed to have a sense of meaning. In that most inhuman of situations, where every little choice that we take for granted was taken away from him -- what to wear, what to eat, when to sleep, how to spend his time and with whom -- Frankl concluded that "...Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms -- to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way.

I realize this is easier said than done. Yet the way we contextualize, how we frame any given experience or situation, makes all the difference. Notwithstanding the reality of bills and mortgages and other financial responsibilities -- which I do not minimize here -- there may be a hidden blessing in losing a job, client or income. This seemingly catastrophic event may provide an opportunity to go within and re-evaluate our lives and reconnect with our deep soul level desires -- our life's purpose -- which we may have been ignoring for years or may have sold out on for the sake of an illusory sense of security.

In my experience of 20 years of working with people to access and uncover their essential nature, of leading retreats and facilitating workshops, of practicing these teachings -- living them on a day to day basis -- I have learned that when we do the work of going within and identifying our mission level work we are always supported by life, by the life force of the Universe. To me these are not airy fairy concepts but realities that I have lived. And yes, there have been times when I did not have things I wanted, but I have never lacked what I needed, never missed a meal. Not once.

We are living in probably the most critical times in the evolution of our species. When viewed through that lens, whenever one of us makes a choice that is going to free up our authentic purpose and forward us on our own individual process of evolution - and therefore impacting many others whose lives we will touch - how can the Universe not support that. It has a vested interest in doing so.

Our job is to learn to quiet our fearful minds, becoming present to and delving deep within to that place where peace and knowing and trust reside, where all answers already exist.

If you ever had the slightest suspicion or subtlest inkling that you had a particular role to play as a healer or teacher or leader, then this is it. This is the time we have been waiting for. We need you. The world needs you. Trust. Not in a naive, Pollyanna sort of blind trust, mind you, but an informed, active and participatory trust. In Judaism the concept of Bitachon refers to just that kind of active trust which entails a choice or decision on our part followed by the determination and commitment to seek a given spiritual goal. The support follows and is dependent on our continued participation: we must remain true to our decisions and intentions.

Or as the Sufis would say, 'Trust in Allah but tie your camel.' In other words, we do what we need to do in this realm, and after fulfilling our part (checking the want ads, making calls, going on interviews, networking, etc.) we rest in the certainty that things will work out, and we maintain a peaceful attitude and positive frame of mind.