When employment ends, we don’t always leave with just our belongings. Sometimes we carry disappointment, sadness, unanswered questions, or a sense of loss. We may be leaving people we’ve cared about, work we’ve invested ourselves in, and a place that has been part of our everyday life.
Even when leaving is our own decision, there can be mixed emotions. And sometimes, the ending wasn’t what we wanted or deserved.
This is your moment to acknowledge what this experience has meant to you, without anyone else deciding how you should feel about it.
Let your shoulders drop a little. Breathe out slowly, a bit longer than you breathe in. You’re allowed to take this at your own pace.
Part 1
Take a Moment
This was a significant ending. However it happened — whether you chose it, or it was chosen for you — it marked the close of something that took your time, your energy and a part of your life.
You don’t have to be grateful for it. You don’t have to deny the pain of it. And you don’t have to have answers yet.
Right now, there is nothing to fix and nothing to prove. There is only this: an ending happened, and it mattered. You’re allowed to stop for a moment and let that be true.
Take a slow breath. Let yourself simply be here, exactly as you are.
Part 2
What Are You Carrying?
Endings leave things in our hands. Some of them are heavy, and some of them were never ours to hold in the first place. You might gently ask yourself:
- What will I miss?
- What has been difficult?
- What am I still trying to understand?
- What am I carrying that doesn’t belong to me?
There are no right answers, and you don’t have to answer out loud. This is simply a chance to notice what’s there.
If you’d like to, you can write a few words below. Whatever you write stays on your own device — it isn’t sent anywhere or stored, and it disappears when you leave this page.
If it helps, jot a few words below. This box is only on your screen — nothing you type is saved or sent anywhere, and it disappears when you leave the page.
Part 3
What Will You Take With You?
Not everything from this chapter needs to be left behind. Some things are yours to keep: the skills you built, the relationships that were genuine, the wisdom you gained, and the quiet pride of work done well.
And some things can be set down: shame that was never yours, disrespect you didn’t deserve, and the judgements of people who didn’t see the whole story.
You can honour what was good without excusing what was harmful. And you can leave without surrendering your dignity.
Bring to mind one thing from this chapter that is truly yours to keep. Let yourself hold it for a moment.
Part 4
A Moment to Pray: Placing This Chapter in God’s Hands
This part is an invitation, not an expectation. If prayer is part of your life, you’re welcome to pray along. If it isn’t — whatever you believe or don’t believe — you’re warmly welcome to skip ahead to the final part; the rest of this course stands on its own.
God knows the whole story of this chapter — including the parts that were never resolved, never explained, and never acknowledged by anyone else. Nothing about it is hidden from Him, and none of it is too heavy for Him to hold.
“Cast thy burden upon the LORD, and he shall sustain thee.” — Psalm 55:22 (KJV)
If you’d like to, pray with me:
Father God, You know the journey I have walked through this workplace. You know the work I have done, the people I have cared about, the things I have given and the things that have cost me. You know what was good, and You know what was painful. Today, I place this chapter of my life into Your hands. I give You the disappointments, the unanswered questions, the relationships and the things I cannot change. Please carry what has become too heavy for me. Help me take forward the wisdom, the experience and the good that belongs to me, without carrying the weight of what was harmful. Restore my confidence where it has been shaken, my peace where it has been disturbed, and my sense of dignity where it has been wounded. Guide my steps into whatever comes next. I trust You with the parts of this story that I cannot resolve. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Take a slow breath. Stay here as long as you like.
Part 5
Moving Forward
You don’t need to rush into a new chapter to prove that you’ve moved on. Take what is yours to keep. Lay down what is no longer yours to carry.
The ending of a role is not the ending of your worth, your purpose or your story. Your dignity doesn’t belong to an employer. It belongs to you.
Placing this chapter down doesn’t mean giving up anything that is rightfully yours — your entitlements, your right to speak up, to make a report, or to seek support all remain yours. If sleep, mood or your sense of hope keeps getting harder rather than easing in the weeks ahead, please talk with your GP or a counsellor. Needing more support is never a failure.
If you need support
- Emergency or immediate danger: 000
- Lifeline (24/7 crisis support): 13 11 14
- Beyond Blue: 1300 22 4636
- Your workplace Employee Assistance Program (if you still have access), or your GP
An independent educational resource by Sharon Mackenzie, Spirit Led Institute. It is general information only — not counselling, clinical treatment, emergency or crisis support, legal advice, a formal workplace risk assessment or a WHS compliance service. Non-accredited.
