I’m going to be honest and tell you a story that’s pretty embarrassing to me but I hope it helps you out (don’t laugh at me!). When I was about nineteen years old my car got repoed, yeah that’s right I’m admitting it, I didn’t pay the car note and they took it. The problem was I still had to get to work so what would I do? I had to bike to work everyday. Now understand I mean a bike with pedals that you use your feet to move, not some cool motorcycle, it was quite embarrassing everyday to pedal into our warehouse. It wasn’t a far drive from my house to the warehouse but every morning felt like I was racing in the Tour De France, I would get to the warehouse and needed to take a nap!
One morning I was riding like I normally do at 2 am, I was pedalling up a steep hill when I heard some noise to the side of me. I looked over and saw some random dude screaming at me, so I did what I thought was smart, I took off with everything I had. I thought I would be good, I would get to the top of the hill and it would be all good, I was wrong. All of a sudden I hear the guy screaming louder because he was almost behind me, he was at a full run and yelling all kind of weird sounds and noises at me. I pedaled harder but I also started to scream to, I was pedalling and screaming and I think, crying a little. Eventually I got away and made it safe to the warehouse, I think a few minutes in the bathroom changing my shorts.
This was just one of my adventures as I had to ride my bike to work until I could save up enough money to buy a beater car.
So what’s the point of telling you this story?
I told it to illustrate that sometimes things happen, either through you’re doing or the doing of circumstance but you have to push on and do whatever it takes to survive.
I have a wife and three kids to support so I had no choice but to bike to work, and this is probably a little example in the grand scheme of things. There are some people going through things that would make us mad or sad, just to support their family or just to survive.
If you think you have it rough or you think you just can’t take it anymore, just remember and focus on the “why” of what you’re doing. It may not be comforting but there’s always someone who has it worse than you, but more than that, it’s a part of growing up and being an adult.
Remember that if you’re in an unbearable work situation, do what you have to do to survive but make sure you’re formulating an exit strategy, you meant for bigger and better things.
What kind of crazy things have you had to go through at work? Let us know in the comments below: