The Bulldozer
After the accident with the tree, I ended up in the hospital with my leg in a cast that ran from my foot all the way up past my knee and halfway up my thigh.
When I got out, I was pretty much alone. There was no one there to carry the load for me. Sometimes life is like that. You find yourself standing there by yourself with responsibilities that still have to be met.
I had a project underway and payroll coming due. Equipment payments had to be made, and the job had to move forward.
So a couple of days later, I was back at the job site.
I asked the men working for me to carry me and set me up on the bulldozer so I could operate it.
The vibrations from that machine traveled straight through the cast and into my leg. The pain was almost unbearable.
But I had work to finish and responsibilities to meet.
I stayed on that bulldozer and worked through the pain until enough of the job was completed for me to earn the draw that was coming to the company. It was a substantial amount of money, somewhere around one hundred thousand dollars.
After finishing what needed to be done, I went to the office to collect the check.
There was a long set of concrete steps leading up to the door, maybe twelve or fifteen steps with a handrail running up the middle. I slowly worked my way up those stairs on crutches, got the check, and started my way back down.
On the way down, I missed the first step.
I tumbled all the way down those concrete stairs and landed hard in the parking lot below.
I laid there for about ten minutes.
The strange thing is, the first thought that crossed my mind was not anger or panic. I remember thinking to myself, “Well, at least I’ll probably get some compensation for this.”
No one came out. No one even knew I was lying there.
After a while I realized something.
The check still needed to get to the bank.
So I picked myself up, made my way to the truck, drove to the bank, and deposited the money.
Sometimes life does not give you the luxury of stopping.
Sometimes you find yourself alone, with responsibilities that cannot wait.
And sometimes life reaches up and bites you on the tail end when you least expect it.
Nuggets of Wisdom
• Hardships are part of life. They will show up when you least expect them. The real measure of a person is not whether hardship comes, but whether they stand back up and continue forward.
• Responsibility does not disappear when life becomes painful. When others depend on you, finishing the job becomes more important than the pain you feel along the way.
Proverbs
Proverbs 14:23
“All hard work brings a profit, but mere talk leads only to poverty.”
Proverbs 12:11
“Those who work their land will have abundant food, but those who chase fantasies have no sense.”
Proverbs 24:10
“If you falter in a time of trouble, how small is your strength.”
Nuggets of Wisdom
- Hardships are part of life. They will show up when you least expect them. The real measure of a person is not whether hardship comes, but whether they stand back up and continue forward.
- Responsibility does not disappear when life becomes painful. When others depend on you, finishing the job becomes more important than the pain you feel along the way.
Proverbs
- “All hard work brings a profit, but mere talk leads only to poverty.”
- “Those who work their land will have abundant food, but those who chase fantasies have no sense.”
- “If you falter in a time of trouble, how small is your strength.”
There is a companion workbook for this story. Open the workbook (PDF).