There’s no sugar-coating hard times.  Millions of people lost their jobs with the concomitant loss of human dignity and the ability to support their families. 

It’s a tragic lesson that many are learning today.  The first lesson to learn in hard economic times is that “rugged individualism” is a myth.  We need to know how to help each other – and how to be helped. 

Many people have been givers all their lives, but never receivers.  They don’t know how to receive, and they’re embarrassed to ask.  Get over it, care-givers advice.  Remember that you can always give back when you’re on your feet again.  And the key for getting help is to “ask, ask, ask.”

On seeking help, file immediately for unemployment insurance; you have the right to carry health care from your employer under COBRA laws; private and public food pantries are everywhere; allow a loved one a chance to help.  It can be the greatest gift we can give them.  Some day you can pass on the help.

When the pink slip arrives and you’re out of work, here are a few tips for starting over after the bad news:

• Stay positive: Job loss these days isn’t a personal judgment, but a fact of life.  Negative thinking about your abilities is counterproductive.
• Hide the credit cards: Don’t build up credit card debt.  If you’ve set aside a rainy-day fund, it’s now pouring.  Use it.
• Clip coupons: You know those people who drive you crazy at the checkout with all their coupons?  Become one of them and save money.
• Avoid liquid cures: Booze – or drugs – are neither a solution nor an escape.  They will just create greater hurt.  Use your new-found spare time soberly.
• Network: The best way to find a new job is often how you found your first job – through friends and other people in your field.
• Create solutions: Many companies out-source work to independent contractors.  your skills might be used on long or short-term jobs.