Let me tell you a short story, and I promise that there is a lesson to be learned.

There I was, riding the bus home from work, and thinking about the bad day I am having. A few stops later, I overheard a conversation between a young-looking father and his son. The son goes, “Dad, I want new clothes for school.” The dad goes, “Not now son, money’s a little bit tight at the moment.”

“How come dad?” the son replies.

“Your momma ain’t helping daddy out with our stuff, wherever she may be right now. But you know what? If you get really good grades in school? If you study hard? I’ll buy you new clothes, alright? But for now, just use what you have.”

I looked around and saw other people looking and listening inconspicuously. I saw hints of smiles. I zoned out for a little while and thought, how many others are living a life where they can just have anything they desire? Many.

Money is a little bit tight at the moment.

These words echoed through my head. I remember back in my Sociology class, we talked about income inequality, the economy, and the poverty line in the United States. I never realized how bad it was.

I shifted back my focus on the father and son. They were then talking about how money and banks work. The child’s interest made me smile.

On that note, there will be bad days where:

You got a flat tire. You missed your due date for rent. Someone messed up your order at the restaurant. The shoes you wanted weren’t available anymore, and many more.

But just remember that there are other people having worse or the worst days.

You got a flat tire? Cool, others don’t even have a car to drive around to get to work.

You missed your due date for rent? Think about those who are homeless and those who are really, extremely, on-the-verge-of-getting-kicked-out suffering to pay for rent

Someone messed up your order at the restaurant? There are people who can’t even afford going to one

The shoes you wanted weren’t available anymore? There are kids in the Philippines walking through mud to get to school WITHOUT shoes.

Overall, I learned that there are much worse situations than the bad ones that I have.

To end my story about the father and the son, they finally reached their stop. As they stood up, they were carrying a luggage, big bags, and a cardboard sign. Although, I did not get to see what it said.

Here I am right now, sitting, typing, and thinking about the days where I complained about plenty of things when there are worse things happening in the world. There are those who sacrifice their lives at war, those who work hard to keep their families fed and well, those who struggle finding something to eat, etc. But then again, you have to fight through some of the worst days to earn the best days of life.