Careers and Kidney Stones: Life Lessons that Make us Stronger

By 6 p.m. last Friday night I was doubled over in the floor of a local restaurant convinced I was dying. Three hours later, cat scans and other tests in the local emergency room revealed that I had a large kidney stone and the only solution was surgery. UGH. None of this was on my weekend “to do” list. Less than 24 hours later I had surgery; surgery I didn’t need, as that stone somehow passed naturally. As my family drove me home, I kept saying to myself, “I can’t believe this happened? How did I end up in so much pain? Why did I have surgery I didn’t need? What just happened?” That pesky little kidney stone turned my world upside down, to the point that the only thing I could mumble for hours on Friday evening was, “Make the pain stop!”

Career challenges from my 20+ years of employment lead me to identify many similarities between work and kidney stones. Like that stone, our jobs often throw unimaginable curve balls that leave us mumbling, “Just make it stop. Just stop the chaos and unpredictability.” We perhaps go to work with one plan for the day, only to arrive at 8 a.m. and hear our beloved project is cancelled; there’s not enough money to send us to conference; perks are being taken away, or reduced revenue means 25 of us are losing jobs next month.

Sometimes the curve ball is simply that we were hired to do “A,” now we’re doing “B,” and we don’t fit in or feel encouraged or inspired, despite 80-hour work weeks. Whatever it is, the career curve balls that we never expected, didn’t plan for, or that have put us in so much agony we just want the madness to stop, are not without their purpose.

As much as I now detest kidney stones, it was a wake-up call. My journey to better health must go into overdrive. Similarly, your career curve balls can serve a good and necessary purpose that leads you to say, “This job is not worth losing my sanity or my family; It’s time to gain skills in another area; My skills can be used for another purpose; or It’s past time to identify better stress management skills.” Whatever challenges you’re facing with your career, remember; challenges change us, so let’s aim to change for the better. Don’t let the pain hinder your greater purposes. Hang in there!