What Layoff Taught Me

I still remember the day I was laid off from Citrix. I was 28 years old and still early in my career, but the layoff felt as if it announced the end of it. The future seemed bleak. I had won an "Above-and-Beyond Sales Engineer" award two months before, and a few others that year. I felt untouchable — until I got the message that I, along with a thousand other employees, was no longer with the company. I couldn't help but doubt every bit of praise I'd ever received. I took it personally: that I wasn't good enough. I felt shame. I felt abandoned.

That belief led me to a lot of pain — but it also taught me something about my identity, and how I'd built it. I had defined myself by my work. My value by the value of the job I performed. I was so work-focused that when the work was gone, I had nothing to fall back on. I was lost.

And that lostness became the beginning of my most significant growth. But first I had to move through the stages of grief — shock, confusion, fear, anger, sadness. Only after all of that could I begin to uncover the meaning. I started reflecting on what I'd always wanted to do but never had the courage to make time for.

I realized my long journey to come to the United States and pursue higher education was meant for something beyond being an employee. That realization gave birth to my nonprofit, Crafting Love and Hope, which has since served hundreds of youth and women across Morocco and the U.S. It taught me that our journey in life isn't only about what we get out of it — it's about what the world gets out of us.

The chance to begin again let me look at my whole life: meaning, purpose, health, relationships, love. What felt like a slap in the face woke me up. It taught me the importance of harmony across every area of a life. For that, I'm forever grateful.

We can move through our experiences as victims — or we can look for the guidance pointing us toward something better. When we walk through life with our eyes open to meaning, every experience can become a blessing.

If you've recently been affected by a layoff, I'm sorry. Let all the emotions rise — they have something to teach you, and they'll lead you toward a greater gift: a path to your own freedom. So let me ask you gently: could this ending be opening you to a far greater next chapter?