He knew it was going to happen. He wasn't really surprised. Yeah, if he had to be honest with himself, it hit him kind of hard because he had been with them for so long. But to be honest, they never really showed any real interest in him or his work.

Now that he's thinking about it, he was the obvious choice. Brian was their "golden boy." And Lisa, well, if you look as good as she does, it doesn't matter how smart you are or how much you can produce, they loved her.

He had the feeling every since they announced that they were going to have cut backs, that he would be one of the people they cut back with, yet, he did nothing to prepare himself for this moment.

As he carried his box of personal belongings out to the car on his final walk from the office to the parking lot, he was thankful for Darryl, who was the only person who walked with him out of the building.

He knew that Darryl was secretly smiling on the inside because he hadn't received his pink slip. It was pretty crazy but the only thing he was thinking about at this moment was that the slip wasn't actually pink. In fact, it wasn't even a slip, but a full-blown letter that was typed out on a computer and printed out. Probably on the same printer he used everyday. He also thought that Darryl shouldn't be too happy because his job wasn't promised to him either. He wasn't their "golden boy" and he wasn't all that attractive either. That thought made him smile a little.

As he drove off, his mind kept going back to when his boss called him into the office. He was feeling so many emotions at that time; he didn't quite know how to feel. Yes, he was angry. But he was also concerned about what he would do next with his life.

Uh ol', here comes the anger again.

"I gave them people 11 years of my life. For what? For them to give me a letter stating that they no longer required my services."

That just didn't seem fair. Well, they did give him a pretty descent severage pay. They paid him three months salary. That was nice of them. They didn't have to do that, he thought.

All of a sudden, he became conscious of his route home. He has driven this route so many times over the past 11 years. It was sort of sad thinking that this would be the last time he drove this way home.

Beep, beep, beep. Steve swings his arm over and hits the alarm clock to silence it. Then he pulls the covers off of himself and swung his legs over the side of the bed. He rested his face in his hands and then jerks his head up.

"I don't have to get up today. I was laid off yesterday." He laughs. Then quickly lays back into bed. But he can't go back to sleep. His mind is racing.

"What am I going to do today", he thought. Well, I'm not going to look for a job. I deserve a break. I think I will just relax for about two weeks before I even think about looking for another job.

He gets up, grabs his robe and slippers and heads down to the kitchen. As he fixes a bowl of cereal, he turns on the television set and watches the news. After the news is over he flicks from channel to channel and decides to watch a little Regis.

After Regis ends, he gets captivated by a "Who is My Baby Daddy" story coming on Jenny Jones next. Then Maury Povich has the same story line except his is "Maury, Help Me Find My Baby Daddy." Well, he simply has to watch that one too.

Three weeks have gone by and Steve finds that it is hard for him to turn off the television and get off the couch. He doesn't even take baths on any consistent basis. He seems to be content sitting around doing absolutely nothing.

He has made up his mind that he is not going to look for a job until his unemployment is about to run out. The pay is not what he's use to receiving, but that along with the money he has saved up over the years should last him for at least six months. He could pay his bills and still have a little money to go out every once in a while.

Steve is simply drifting through life with no direction. A simple snag in his plan has thrown him all off course. Life is passing him by and he doesn't even realize it. He has amble time to learn about himself and use his "lay off" and make the best of it.

But Steve, like so many of us, is not aware of how to use TIME to our advance.

Let me tell you about Janet.

Janet received her termination letter the same day Steve received his. She was upset but had vowed not to let it get her down.

As she drove home for the last time from her "job" she reached into her glove compartment and pulled out her motivational tape by motivational speaker and trainer, Dawn Fields (hehe, shameless plug).

Janet knew God had a purpose for her life and was determined to use her newly acquired "free time" to discover that purpose.

She purposely set the alarm clock to the time she normally got up each day when she had to go into work. But this time, instead of running around the house getting ready to go work for someone else, she was going to work on herself.

She jumped out of bed and put on her sweat clothes; grabbed her motivational tape and headed out to the park for a jog.

When she arrived back home, she took a shower and started cooking breakfast. As she ate her breakfast, she grabbed a piece of paper and jotted down the things that she was good at doing; things she liked to do; things that she thought she was better at doing than most people.

She decided to design the perfect job for herself.

The next thing she did was pray. She decided to spend on hour a day, thanking God for the blessings He has already given her and theblessings He would give her in the near future.

Then one day, the thought came into Janet's head about real estate.

Janet had always had an interest in real estate. She had always wanted to buy homes and charge a low down payment so that everyone could own a home if they so desired. That thought was just the beginning for Janet. She immediately went online and looked up real estate courses.

She didn't want to be a Broker, she wanted to buy and sell homes on her own. A Real Estate Investor. Yes.That sounded good to her.

She went to the bookstore and purchased a book that taught her how to buy homes with little or no money down.

She found out the Unemployment in her state pays for you to go to school for whatever she wants to study. She decides to take a course on buying and selling property.

Six months later, Janet is happier than she has ever been. She has more money than she ever thought possible. She is the proud owner of 3 houses and 1 apartment unit that houses 20 apartments.

She has bought all of her property and homes at 20% below cost and has sold them at cost without using any of her own money.

She learned how to get investors to give her the money she needed and turn a profit for both them and her.

Janet took advantage of her free time. Instead of drifting and letting time slip by like Steve, Janet made every minute count. She decided to turn the television off and her mind on. She decided to get in touch with her spirituality and move closer to God.

God kept sending her hunches and thoughts and she was more than willing to receive them. She discovered what her talent was and took action to put it to good use. She will never have to worry about a termination letter again.

? 2004 http://www.dawnfields.com

Dawn Fields is a motivational speaker, author and spiritual life coach. Visit the web site at http://www.dawnfields.com and be sure to tune in every Thursday for Your Life's Purpose Interactive Internet Radio Show that she host at 9 p.m. EST. While you are at it, sign up for Your Life's Purpose weekly newsletter by sending a blank email to dawn@dawnfields.com with SUBSCRIBE in the subject line.