Up To The Surface

This is how you can undergo a complete overhaul to your old routine  And not lose your old routine. (or your sanity)- I come from nearly six years of having "bankers hours". I spent the better half of my 20's with the privilege of having a "9-to-5"(ish) and only working the occasional Saturday. But all that changed rather unexpectedly. And now the job I was able to secure has the polar opposite of those hours: Sometimes midday, sometimes late night. Working weekends. Days off straddled throughout. It might be enough to send some people into a total meltdown- but for me, it was a smooth transition. How? Because I kept 3 very important things in a very rigid regime. 1) My sleep cycle- During my banking years, I learned about circadian rythms. They are the sleep rythms your body comes to know and follow... if you're smart, and you let it. Many people don't know about the importance of keeping a sleep routine that's very similar from ...

Unemployed, Day 14- We go out into the ocean on the paddle board first thing in the morning. It is a mini-adventure, but it leaves me too tired to do much else. I still hit the gym. That afternoon, as promised by the bank with which I interviewed, I received a call from HR. The same woman I first interviewed with. I was told she would tell me the "next step" but the "next step" was her simply telling me she had to collaborate with the branch manager and they'd get back to me on Monday. Slowly, the cautious optimism started to leak out of me. Saturday was approaching quickly. Saturday there will be a hiring event.... for Aldi. The little supermarket sounds like a great job but really it's hard work. I've been told you work long hours, starting at 5am, lifting heavy items all day. It's exhausting work. And it's not ideal for me. No Sunday's off. No holiday's off. Sometimes early morning, sometimes late night. ...

Unemployed, day 12- Nicky Romero- "The Moment" (Two-Fold Remix) My day starts with a long ride in the car husband driving, home made coffee in travel mug (to save time), phone as GPS. We navigate to the city. We find the big building where I need to be by 10:30. It is 9:40. We decide to go to a local coffee shop. The map takes us to the right intersection, but it's not there. Only another bank. We follow the GPS in the phone to a nearby starbucks. It's right over the river, in a fun place known as Five Points. It's a little shopping district. I've been here before, during happier times. We get the Starbucks and we start making our way back, in case of traffic. 10:08 We get to the road we need to turn left on to get to the big bank building. A small black car has just crashed into the corner street light, cops are flying up with their sirens blaring, people are stuck in the intersection. You have got to be kidding me. I prepare to ge...

Unemployed, Day 6 Listening to: The Fugees- "Ready or Not"  I finally go to an interview. It's for a full-time job in customer service at the health food store chain in the city. It's going to be alot of busy work, but it kind of sounds exactly like the bank except instead of money, the job centers around health food. I can sell health food.... no... I can preach health food and healthy eating and healthy living like a religion. I can preach it loud and proud, confident in what I'm saying. Maybe this is where I belong. Now my life's biggest question has shifted. A few days ago, it was "Now what is my life?" Today it's "Love? or Money?" I can go work for another bank. I can do the job. I can handle the cash, handle the customer. I can make the most of it, and milk the 9-5 with benefits and paid holidays. It probably pays more money. OR I can go work at a health food store. Either the one I interviewed with o...