So. I usually stay away from overly personal subjects on the blog. Occasionally I might reference a bad day at work or a new gentleman-friend, but for the last few years, I’ve tried to keep the focus on running and recipes. However, the fact that I was laid off on Wednesday is probably going to affect my running, my meals, and my mood, so I figured it was blog-appropriate material.

Yup, laid off. The job I’ve held for the last 4+ years was eliminated and I, along with many other co-workers, are now out of work. Does it suck? Was I upset? Absolutely. I really liked my boss and co-workers, it was a stable job, and I was comfortable there. I was a mess on Wednesday night. I cried for 3 hours, talked to my parents about 12 times, and generally just felt bad about the whole situation.

But on Thursday morning, I woke up in quite possibly the best mood I’ve been in, in a long time. To be honest – I sort of fell into this job and never imagined myself doing it for the long term. But 2008-2011 wasn’t exactly the best time to be job hunting, you know? So I stayed. But over the last few months, I’ve seen friends move on to pursue jobs that really excited them, to apply to grad school, to change careers. I wanted to make a change, but could never get myself motivated to do it. Sure, I would look at job postings and send out my resume every once in awhile, but the attempts were always half-hearted.

If you read my post from earlier this week, you know that Tuesday was not a good day. I was feeling so unmotivated and blah about everything – work, running, life. I remember thinking – “I wish something, anything would happen. I need to get out of this funk.” Well, be careful what you wish for, right? I thrive best when there’s a little bit of pressure (I think everyone does), so if anything, being laid off was probably the best thing that could have happened to me professionally. I mean, losing your job sucks, don’t get me wrong. And there are moments when I’m convinced I am going to be homeless and living on the streets 4 months from now (even though my parents say they won’t let that happen). But I needed this push. I was at this job for 4 years and while it served its purposes, it was not what I wanted to be doing and I was not being compensated fairly. To be honest, I probably should have left awhile ago. The situation could be worse – I have a few weeks of severance coming my way, I’m eligible for unemployment, and my boss promises an A+ recommendation letter. I think it’s safe to say that I’m actually excited about this opportunity for change. I don’t think I realized how unhappy and stalled I felt until the safety net of the job was gone. Of course I’m a little scared, but I also feel like a huge weight has been lifted from my shoulders. Just think of the possibilities that lay ahead! It’s exciting to know that the course of my life is going to change direction, for the better. Sometimes you make choices to alter your life, but sometimes life makes those choices for you. This time it’s the latter.

I’m taking the next few days to chill out and pull myself together, but next week my plan is to start networking like crazy, meet with some recruiters, and polish up my resume. And you know? Training for a marathon while not working is actually very good timing. Think about how much time I can devote to foam rolling, stretching, lifting, and running! Imma be so jacked come April 16 (maybe). And the good thing about running is that’s it’s essentially FREE, which is perfect because now is not the time for excess expenditures. So if you want to come along for the ride, stay tuned. There will be a lot of running, a lot of economical, home-cooked meals, and maybe a few meltdowns. But I’ll try to keep those to a minimum.

Lastly, when my friend Sara wrote me this message on New Year’s Eve, I immediately knew I wanted it to be my mantra for the year. Little did I know how applicable it would be!

Okay. So tell me – do you have any advice for the newly unemployed? An online media/PR job lead that you want to share?

Do you want to run with me in the middle of the day (I have the time!) or maybe just join me at the bar as I drink away my sorrows ?