It's science.

I have this theory.

I may have mentioned I’m unemployed. It’s only the thing I think and talk about all day and night, you may have heard me mention it. From January through mid-July of this year, I was so incredibly negative and hard on myself. I was in a really dark place. July was also the month I was distracted from myself and got out of my head momentarily with weddings and wedding-related travels. I have the most amazing group of friends who accept the bad parts of me right along with the good, and it was really refreshing to be spending a lot of time with them.

Right around that time, I snagged a phone interview. Didn’t get the job, but a phone interview was farther than I had gotten in seven months. It provided me with a little hope. I started making more phone calls about jobs, really working on my cover letters, seeking advice from fellow job-seekers, and I even sought out another organization to gain some more volunteer/intern experience.

Within two weeks, I had about three separate interview offers. When I was preparing for one particular interview, I was so stressed out and wound up that I went to the gym. I did just 30 minutes of cardio, but it calmed me down a little bit. Still, none of them worked out – though I got through two rounds of interviews for one of them, which, again, was farther than I had gotten in a long time.

So today, after getting back from the gym, what happens? I had an email sitting in my inbox about a phone interview. Boom.

I’m no scientist but this sequence of events is enough proof for me. It seems I won’t get anywhere with my job search unless I do other things that are good for myself. I actually believe (or, at least, it’s fun to believe) that the good feelings you get from doing right by yourself somehow translate into vibes that magically insert themselves into your job applications, or whatever your goal may be at the time.

If you hate yourself, and that’s what you’re focusing on, it’ll show through in everything you do. At least that’s how I’ve seen it work in my own life. So as I work out my own emotional issues, it’s nice to have distractions, and treating myself properly through healthy and creative eating and exercise is definitely a great distraction. So are friends.

As I mentioned, I went to the gym today! I’m proud of myself for going. I made myself a brand spanking new playlist, and off I went! I did 30 minutes of cardio – 20 on the treadmill (still only about 4 minutes was jogging, but I broke it up into smaller intervals and increased the pace each time) and 10 on the elliptical. Um, the elliptical is HARD. I had forgotten. It’s gonna take some patience to work up endurance for that machine.

Oh – another bonus of the working out? It gets me out of the damn house, which is always a step in the right direction.