[header] How to be fired gracefully [title] Take a minute (or five) to get over the shock and get your brain working again. [step] Breathe. If you feel like crying, go ahead-it won't change the situation but it will help you cope better if you can unload the emotion. 
[title] Think about this in the right way. [step] Your first impulse might be to assume you're a bad employee, a bad person or a complete failure, but this is just the panic talking.