I had gone to college for social work and found a career working with people experiencing homelessness. Where I started, only the overnight shift was available in a quiet area. I couldn’t stand being still and my new coworkers constantly asked me to stop working so hard because I was making them look bad… But I loved what I was doing so I didn’t listen to them…

My heart and passion was with helping people overcome their hurdles… Hurdles I had previously overcome, so I could show them they could be on the other side if they want to and persevere through the toughness with grit. I truly felt thankful to be a delightful part of their darkest points of their lives and a cheerleader to those who felt lost. Eventually the coworkers who asked me to take it easy left, and life was grand.

Working nights in a quiet area allowed me the freedom to focus on healing my body in between my work tasks, but my eyes became sensitive to the light. Overly sensitive to the light. Like a vampire!

After 5 years or so I was able to switch over to a less physically demanding shift. Truly, overnights take quite the physical toll after an extended period of time. I was so thankful to return to a bustling environment with better reign of my body and in a better physical condition than prior.

Shifting down to evenings and dayshifts allowed my body to recalibrate it’s settings and probably helped me mitigate a little pain. I’m very thankful for all these dark periods in my life; they helped me learn patience in process.