Living the Dream Life - Unemployment

Last year, about this time, I woke up, went to work, put in a full day, and right before I was about to go home, I was called into my boss' office and laid off. The Friday before Thanksgiving. I cried a lot, ate a pizza, then spent two plus months unemployed. And it wasn't that bad.

Yesterday, about this time, I was called up to the COO's office. I saw HR in the room and knew instantly what was about to happen.

"Your position is being ended...It's not a performance issue...Our overhead is simply too...We looked everywhere for a contract position for you...You aren't the only person we have to have this conversation with..."

I got laid off.

And a surprising thing happened. I was relieved. And I was seriously stoked that I wouldn't have to commute over an hour each way any longer.

I actually spent the majority of my time comforting other people while I was cleaning out my desk and sending files to my coworker.

"Really, I'm going to be fine. It's not like I'm dead or have cancer or something."

While I drove home yesterday, I thought a lot about how I would handle being unemployed again. Whether it's for a few days, weeks, or months (god forbid years...)...I knew I couldn't do what I did last time. I did a lot of what I am going to call "productive wallowing." I stayed at home, avoided the gym, but I churned out applications like you wouldn't believe.

I have no idea how much weight I gained, but it was an amount that is fairly embarrassing for only being unemployed two months. My mile time was probably abysmal.

I made a few preliminary decisions on how unemployed life will be this time around.

Every Sunday I will set a calendar for the business week. It will include the following:
- Lunch with a friend
- Workout Schedule
- Set-Aside job application time
- One new "DC" activity

Becoming all consumed with job applications is the wrong way to go about this. This next job needs to be a good decision - both in terms of what company I join and what the position is. I want to spend at least five years at this next job - not 8 months. I want to love what I do (so...hey...anyone want to hire a race director? Or sponsor my gym idea?)

What IS a good thing is all the time I have to work out. I tweeted something the other day where I pinned for the day where I could work out all day as a top priority. And they say dreams don't come true.

My [fitness] goal for the next 30 days is two-fold:
1) Dedicate myself to getting to a good baseline for running - track practice is required, as are any other runs that Coach puts on my schedule

2)  Not suck at Crossfit - this is a post for a future date, but Chadd and I have been doing crossfit together and I totally suck at it. I love it, but I suck at it. Talk about a humbling experience. My half ironman seems like a joke compared to some of the workouts I've done (Did you know that if you do 150 push ups, you see Valhalla? Try it sometime and find out.)

So! With that, I fully embrace my unemployment for some dedication to fitness.

But, seriously, if you want to fund my gym, I'm all ears.