Set Backs Feel Like the End of the World

This year has been amazing, as I’ve taken action on my dreams, good things have been happening; all should be well, right?

I was delivering bread as usual this past Thursday morning and everything was going well until I got to my third store and realized my handheld computer (it prints the bills for the stores) was missing!

I tore the truck apart trying to find it, I drove back to the store that I had just left and found nothing.

I retraced the route I took to get to the third store, checking the grass and sidewalks, still nothing.

I called the police department and highway patrol to see if anyone had turned it in or if an officer had picked it up, nothing.

I lost all hope and started getting mad and depressed as I realized that I would have to pay almost $3,000 to replace it, which really sucks!

The rest of that day I was depressed and starting merging all my problems into this single problem, I started listening to that nagging voice of doubt that’s always in the back of my mind.

The doubt was telling me that I would have to pay that bill, reminded me of another bill, reminded me that I’m still not out of debt, and reminded me that I still need a lot more money to be able to afford our families move to Hawaii.

Within a few hours after I couldn’t find the computer, doubt had me convinced I wouldn’t be moving and that I would be doing bread next year, stuck! Every fear I have and every doubt I have was exposed right before my eyes, even making my accomplishments this year seem very tiny and not enough.

I’ve accepted the fact that I need to be more responsible with my equipment and that I need to double-check things more, I’ve accepted that I have to pay this bill and that it will require a lot more hustle from me to make up the difference.

I have written about the fact that when you’re chasing your dream you have to be willing to put in extra work, with all the speaking events that I’ve gotten, I figured I had enough money and I was ok.

The truth is that when you’re chasing your dreams and you have a hard deadline like me, “ok” is not good enough, I have to take any opportunity to make money if it’s available.

I’ve learnt my own lessons and have been recharged and now I’m more hungry, even though it’s an expensive lesson, I won’t let it go to waste.

When you’re chasing your dreams and you run into a similar situation while it feels like the end of your dreams it really isn’t. We always have a chance to get back up, and regroup and re-plan, we can’t let these set back keep us from our dreams, they’re too important.

One day I’ll be giving a speech somewhere and I’ll be laughing about this incident (not today though) it will be a real life example of what happens on the path.

What I want to be able to say is that I didn’t let this keep me from continuing on and if you hit a bump that seems like the end of the world, I pray you can say the same.

What’s happened to you that’s felt like the end of the world?