Who in their right mind would choose to get fired? The only ones I've come across are employees who, unable to make their own decisions, force an employer to fire them by doing something outrageously inappropriate.

Sort of like the suicidal gunman who, too cowardly to put the barrel to his head, fires at police officers in the hopes they will do the job for him.

Then there are those who want to get dismissed so they can collect unemployment insurance. I have known a handful in that category as well.

For the most part, however, we all go out of our way to avoid the financial and emotional turmoil of a prolonged period of unemployment - devastating to your pocketbook and your pride.

Certainly, it's not something I want to go through again. And yet, while I cannot say I am glad it happened, I can say that I am happier and wiser for having survived it. I could write volumes about what I learned in the process. But space, and your attention span, compel me to condense the experience.

So, here are the Top Ten Things I learned after my employer of 19 years cut my umbilical cord during the '90s recession:

You are not alone: I was surprised at the number of friends and relatives who had undergone a layoff sometime during their career. When the axe fell on me, people came out of the woodwork offering help and support. One friend, today an independently wealthy software designer,

explained how he embraced all his episodes of idleness during his spotty work career. "I always managed to accomplish something I had wanted to do," he told me. Travel, climb a mountain, learn a new skill - something.

Don't judge the quality of career advice by its price: You might assume this to be a predictable rationalization from the editor of a free newspaper. Yet the truth is, during my job search I paid hundreds for career training that wasn't worth two cents. And I paid nothing for invaluable feedback and services that helped me land a job.

Confronted with unemployment, you might be willing to pay anything to get rid of the turmoil in your life. There are those who will take your money - so beware. And don't overlook the excellent free services available from city, county, state and federal programs. Just because it's free doesn't mean it's worthless.

Don't become obsessed. An acquaintance called one morning and offered this hint: Don't spend all week looking for work. Respond to ads and network on Mondays and Tuesdays, play golf on Wednesdays, and resume your job search on Thursdays and Fridays. My kind of advice. I got a job, and cut my average golf score by 15 strokes.

Aim a little high and a little low. The same friend offered this sound advice: Apply for jobs that are a little above and a little below your target. "Employers often don't know what they really want," he advised. "They write an ad for the perfect employee - but they might be quite happy with

your qualifications." Having written such ads as an employer, I knew this was true.

To illustrate, I never applied for the job of editor at CJJ. Instead, I answered an ad to be its marketing director. "You don't have the qualifications we're looking for in a marketing director, but we may have an opening for an editor," said the assistant to the publisher. I had inadvertently tapped into that elusive holy grail of opportunity - the hidden job market.

College is cheaper for the unemployed. To the consternation of my friends who were writing tuition checks for their kids at UC Berkeley and Stanford, losing my job was actually beneficial to my three sons. Their private college aid skyrocketed. Much has changed since then, however, so it's best to contact a college counselor before making any assumptions.

You are more than your career. When I lost my position as publisher of a daily newspaper - a position that capped 30 years in the newspaper business - I felt as if I had lost my identity. Would my family still respect me? I had been, after all, the main breadwinner for as long as my wife and kids could remember. What would they think of me now? "You think I care about that?," my wife reassured me. "I married you, not your job." In time, after I really explored why I had gone into journalism in the first place, I realized that I was more a writer than a publisher. Somewhere along the line, I had forgotten that.

Volunteer. At one point, I volunteered to chaperone a group of high school students on a trip to Sacramento, where they lobbied legislators to fund tobacco control programs throughout the state. To make a long story short, I ultimately landed a job as a project consultant for a coalition of anti-tobacco organizations - thanks in large part to my volunteering. I could never have anticipated such a turn of events, and neither can you. So follow your heart and do what's important to you. You never know what may turn up.

Pick the right job market. Looking for work in a depressed area is, indeed, depressing. If your job search isn't working in a particular area, refocus your efforts in a different market. My job search didn't get off the ground until I targeted Sacramento. Perhaps the city you live in is the right market for you - perhaps not.

Remake your resume - and yourself. Needless to say, after losing my job I had a nasty gap in my work record. It caused me untold grief - until I came up with a way to change it. My solution? I had been spending my extra time writing a book, so I put that on my resume. "You must really like to write," said one job interviewer. "Yeah, I really do." The book has yet to be published - but that point never came up. What they saw was my passion, and that helped land the job. No longer was I an unemployed publisher. I was a journalist pursuing his dream.

State Disability Insurance works: If there is one letter I need to write, it's a thank you to those who created the SDI program. At one point in my job search, I was diagnosed and treated for depression. That qualified me for disability insurance, which enabled me to keep up the house payments while I recovered.

When a layoff happens, it's hard to see what the future holds for you. I never foresaw writing about careers - yet I draw on my experience every week to write, assign and edit articles designed to help jobseekers. My personal turmoil has made it easier for me relate to our readers.

Overall, my out-of-work ordeal turned out to be positive and productive. What awaits you? Who knows? Just follow your instincts and remain open to all the possibilities. You may end up in a better place.

I did.