There was this one day of work where I thought - wow, that was a difficult day. Nothing emotional, but the day just had obstacle after obstacle to jump over. It started with a rainy morning. When I got to the station on the train, it was raining albeit sparsely. I decided to brave the elements and hopped on my bicycle anyway to get to the hospital. A little rain never hurt no one.
Strike one of the day was when it began to suddenly hail. In any other circumstances, I think I would have stopped and admired the rare event of nature. But as I was moving at a velocity greater than normal walking speed, the collision between my unprotected face and the sharp edges of the small hail stones were something not to be desired. It really did hurt! Even trying to slow down barely helped. It was lucky that I was already halfway to my destination. I decided to champion through, and managed to successfully seek shelter indoors without acquiring any battle scars.
Strike two of the day happened enroute back to the station. After a long shift on-call, needless to say, I was pretty drained. I was itching to get back home to sleep. I got on my bicycle and cycled to the station. Got on the lift to the platform, with a few minutes to spare. I reached into my jacket pocket to check my phone for the time, and that was when I realised it. I had left my phone at the hospital. Frantically checking my bag in hopes I left it in there - but unfortunately, it wasn't.
This was not the first time - it has happened before, but the two previous times, I realised my mistake before I had reached the station. Whilst cycling, I would realise that I had left my phone charging then I would turn back. But this time, I was all the way at the station - the train was already on its way! I felt like kicking myself for being so careless, so much so I actually melodramatically cried out of pure frustration and fatigue. Painstakingly, I cycled back to the hospital for the second time that day.
It was already dark, and on the way, strike three was when a stranger tried to be funny by attempting to scare me by shouting when I cycled past. I had my earphones on, and because of the difficult day I was already having, I didn't have the energy to give that person the reaction they wanted. I didn't even flinch or look back, I just gave them the cold shoulder and cycled even faster.
Panting after cycling uphill, I finally got to the hospital. I went onto the wards to fetch my phone and under my breath, swore to myself to never ever pull a stunt like this again. Finally feeling like I can end the day, I cycled back to the station to find that the train was already pulling up onto the platform. "Hooray!" I thought, "This day could not get any worse. I am almost there." But in my hurry, I accidentally tripped on melted hail (strike four). Thankfully, I was holding my bicycle by its handles so I didn't hit the floor - but I did knock my knee and slightly sprain my ankle. Great. Good news was despite my little slip, I finally got on the train and safely got home to my comfortable bed.
Patience and perseverance was the lesson of that day. When what lies ahead is a series of unfortunate circumstances, one should just ride the wave out with patience. And lots of it. And persevere with hopes of a pot of gold (or four) waiting for you on the other side.
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