An excerpt from Indestructible: Transforming Survival into Success by Rose Barroso.
There’s a difference between having a tight budget and being seriously stretched thin for cash. And if you’ve unfortunately ever experienced the latter just like I did, you know that the pit in your stomach doesn’t magically dissipate when you try to close your eyes to sleep at night.
Desperation led me to answer an ad for a home cleaning job. As a university graduate with a Major in Modern Languages, this was a humbling moment. But the bills wouldn’t wait, and I was running out of options. I had even resorted to selling my clothes at a consignment store to pay some of my bills.
One day, I took my most humiliating step. My husband and I discuss this story often, since it allows us to thank all our lucky stars, and it grounds us daily. I have even told my children this story; it is definitely a sad story to tell or even imagine the state of mind in which I was traversing. Nonetheless, it is also a story that demonstrates resilience and strength. I have never cried while telling this story—I will not cry. I have always and will forever tell it with a smile on my face.
Why? Valid question. I love my life today and would not change it for anything. Everything I have done I did for a good reason; it has given me pride in all that I have accomplished, and it gives me strength to do more and go bigger.
One summer day, while waiting at a bus shelter, a woman admired my sandals. Her comment sparked an idea—could I sell them to her? I hesitated at first, but finally said, “If you like them that much, I could sell them to you. They’re basically brand new.” She stared at me, confused, and that look alone made me feel ten times worse than what I was already feeling. I knew I was embarrassing myself.
To my surprise, however, she agreed. We negotiated a price, and I walked away shoeless but $20 richer. The money went toward my overdue phone bill. As I marched along the sidewalk, each step heavier than the last, the weight of humiliation and embarrassment bore down on me. The sale of my shoes inside the bus shelter replayed in my mind, each moment stinging me with a sharp pang of sadness and isolation. I felt stripped of dignity and purpose, left to navigate the long journey home with nothing but the echoes of my crushed pride to accompany me.
Walking barefoot, my feet throbbed, the rough concrete beneath me a cruel reminder of my helpless state. Yet, despite the discomfort, I pressed on, unable to bear the thought of waiting for a bus shoeless, exposed to the concerned gazes of strangers. Grateful for the warmth of the summer sun on my skin, I clutched my purse tightly to my chest, a small source of comfort in the face of hardship. I found solace in the knowledge that with each step, I moved closer to the safety of home.
Wow, I sold the shoes off my feet.
Selling my shoes on the street was a tough decision, but desperation pushed me there. Each step away from that corner felt like a piece of my identity peeling away, leaving me exposed to the unforgiving reality of my situation. It was a hollow victory, the few dollars gained hardly relief for the ache in my heart. The absence of those shoes echoed louder than the dollars in my pocket, leaving me feeling both freed from immediate want and yet burdened by the weight of my circumstances. There was a sense of desperation, a pang of sadness at the loss of something more than just footwear. Yet, amid the hardship, a spark of determination flickered, as I took a tentative step toward a temporary relief.
Life is short and you live it only once. There’s no use wallowing in the misery that your life is not what you expected it to be. Personally, I think the worst part about feeling dejected is how heavy every other thing in life feels on top of it. Suddenly, everything has the potential to make you feel terrible. But I continued to remind myself that this was just a chapter, not the whole story—that every struggle lead me toward something better. And with each day, I grew a little more certain that everything I was working for would be worth it.
Click here to purchase Indestructible: Transforming Survival into Success by Rose Barroso.
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