Unemployment is on the rise and you maybe one of them who recently left work. If you are (even if not), stay for a while and read further because there is a nugget to learn from the story of Amy on how to cope during this time, as well as how to manage the struggles.

Amy is a single mother with a bright future. Though a single mom, she planned her life ahead and decided to straighten her path for her and her son’s future. She finished school and took courses that added strength to her skills. She landed a job and is working for a local retail company for the past 15 years. She was quite a success as she has been promoted several times since she started and is now a VP of operations. She also has a good relationship with here colleagues and they look up to her as a leader. In those years of working, she was able to send her son to a good school, get a loan to buy a car and decent house.

Everything was doing great until the pandemic. 3 months into the pandemic, she was having trouble paying her loans. This made her start digging into her savings. She even had to transfer her son to a different school where tuition is lower. She started to get anxious and became moody. Even her Facebook status has a bitter undertone.

More trouble came to her in the coming weeks. Sometime in morning of July, she got news that the company she is connected with is closing and that she will lose her job. For weeks, she got into deep anxiety. She could not eat. She could not sleep. She could not believe what happened. For her, it was too fast and too soon. She was unprepared. However, every night, before she goes to bed, she tells herself to be strong and get back up because she has a son that relies on her.

What she did after was something predictable. Nonetheless, it was what most people have done. She took free and paid webinars on skills that can help her start a business. For years she wanted to start a home-based business particularly selling food because she loves to cook. In a matter of 5 days, after taking online programs, she was able to start her bottled spread business. And as soon as she posted her new business on Facebook, friends started ordering. She started making money, but not as much as before. It did not really matter. For Amy, what’s important is that she was able to reset.

Amy represents everyone who lost their job but not hope in this pandemic. As seen in her character, she is a fighter and not the one who would easily give up. No, this is not a lesson in business though it shows a vague process on how she started. I put this together with the intention of showing what we are all going through now: change and navigating change using the story of Amy.

Like Amy, you and I are going through change. The change in Amy’s career is not just a change in designation, it also includes changes in habits, behavior and mindset. Yes, change can be depressing but it is what it is, a process, and the process is not unique to one, it applies to all; hope the last sentence is a bit of consolation.

How did she manage change? She faced job loss with faith, hope and courage. Yes, you know these, we know these, however, facing change is easier said than done. As creatures it takes energy, a great deal of it, to create or change a habit. Then again, what is the choice? None. Adapt or die. Right now, we don’t even have to dig deep to look for faith, hope and courage in us, believed me, once you make a decision to do it, it will appear because that’s the way humans are. If there is one lesson about change we can get from this, then let it be that change is a hard process but getting through is possible especially with faith, hope and courage.

Change is not something new to us, we face change everyday, some are hard and some are easy. Even the great Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius faced change and he has amazing words about change that says, loss is nothing else but change and change is nature’s delight. So remember, as I need to remind myself, too, that every time change happens, it must be faced with faith, hope and courage.