The Job Search

I will not let the word "unemployed" define me.

Likewise, I shouldn't let any other job titles define me. But it's something that we, as human beings, have a very strong tendency to do. Our minds like to categorize everything - it makes the world we live in easier to understand.

But I'm not planning on talking about psychology today. I'm planning on talking about my personal quest for meaningful work. Right now, that comes in the very simple form of finding a job that pays enough to get me out of the house. I do believe that being a "homemaker" can be very important and meaningful, but at this point in my life (sans-children) I am pretty certain it's not for me.

Jump Start

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When I was in the Air Force, I made it a point to start my week off right. Every Monday, almost without fail, I would begin the day by rising early to work out. I found that if I made it a point to get myself moving early on Monday, then I'd be more likely to stick with my workouts during the rest of the week. I might not wake up before dawn on any other days, but I'd certainly get all of my exercise goals accomplished.

If I failed to wake up on Monday, I'd usually find myself sluggish the entire week. I'd miss subsequent workouts, and I'd probably forget about healthy eating. Why? It seems that I'm programmed to function better throughout the week if I've managed to jump start Day 1 with a positive accomplishment.

Since I've left the military, I've lost this routine. I know I'm feeling the effects. I can think of half a dozen excuses, but none of them are good. I don't have to take an official fitness test anymore, but that doesn't mean I shouldn't test myself. Unfortunately, I've let fitness fall to the bottom of my priority list.

Over the past few weeks, I've been slowly playing with my routine, trying to incorporate more exercise. I've been fairly successful, but something was still missing in the motivation department. Over the weekend, I had an epiphany. Why not do what worked before? 

Here's the plan: Start with Monday. Starting with today, I've made a few basic measurements to determine where I am, fitness-wise. Check them out (after the jump).

On getting back into...everything.

The first time I heard the term "dependapotamus" was about a month prior to leaving the military. You would think I'd have heard it a lot sooner, but I didn't. I remember being simultaneously amused and disgusted by the term. I knew the kind of people that the term describes: the overweight woman waddling through the BX, who has barely come out of hibernation from on-base housing to make a quick trip out for essentials. I swore right then I'd never become that.

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In fact, the first time I heard the term, the context was, "Don't become a dependapotamus."

I'm doing my absolute best to avoid it. Sure, I took a bit of a break from working out upon my separation. That's normal, and it's hard to stay motivated when suddenly, you don't have a fitness test looming over you. But I'm happy to say that I'm getting back into it.

Krispy Kremes: Apparently they make me grouchy.

With today's post, I have reduced the amount of time between writing by over five months! Last time, it took me 171 days between posts, and this time, it only took me nine days! That is 1900% improvement. Just sayin'.

Now that I'm essentially a homemaker (I hate that term, but there are worse ways of describing it), I find myself feeling obligated to do whatever my husband wants to do. Take this weekend, for instance. A few weeks ago, he decided he wanted to run the Krispy Kreme Challenge. This is an event which I feel is fundamentally disgusting. Although kudos does go to the event for raising $177K for charity, I still can't stand the idea of downing a dozen doughnuts in the middle of a 5-mile run. Actually, right now I don't like the idea of doing either of those things!

Racers gathered at Start/Finish line (Personal Photo)

It could have been a lot of fun. But I was a grouch, because I didn't want to be there. There were lots of people in fun costumes! It was also early in the morning and the temperature was pretty close to freezing. 

The worst thing is, I really didn't have to go. I could have said that I didn't want to wake up before 5:00 a.m. to drive up to Raleigh. But I said that I wanted to, because I wanted to spend some time with him. It's no secret to me that a military job takes up a lot of hours in the week, and this past week, I saw even less of my husband than normal. It's true that I wanted the time with him. I also didn't want to go. 

I feel a bit guilty now, because although I spent time going to his race, I didn't have a positive attitude, and it was far from being quality time. 

Hopefully the rest of this weekend will improve. Maybe we will manage to do something together that we both can enjoy.