It was almost midnight when I ran through the rain to the waiting taxi. I tossed my bags into the trunk and literally fell into the backseat, exhausted, angry and wet. I had just completed a long consulting assignment that included difficult work and many days away from home, and the late arrival of my flight was the final frustration.
If you’ve ever suffered the rigors of business travel, you can imagine what came to mind when the cab driver asked in a heavily accented voice, “Did you have a good day today?”
He listened for a few moments as I vented my struggles with a difficult client, the physical and emotional fatigue of traveling, and the tremendous effort I was expending to sustain a successful business in a difficult economy. Then he began to speak.
“When I was young,” he said, glancing at me in the rearview mirror, “I was forced to leave my country. It was very hard and I was terribly frightened. But as I boarded the plane, my father said something to me that I have never forgotten. I think it will help you.”
The cab rolled to a stop at a traffic light and the driver, whose name was Fredrik, turned in his seat to look at me. With a slight nod of his head, he told me, “Always remember: Good will come.”
Have the circumstances of your life brought so much change and difficulty that you no longer believe the ultimate outcome will be good? If so, Fredrik’s story will mean as much to you as it did to me on that rainy night.
“When I arrived in this country,” he said as he drove, “I could not speak the language. Even though I had a degree in engineering, I could not find a job.”
Fredrik told me how a relative who owned a pizza restaurant offered to give him a delivery job if he could learn the map of the city. Each day, Fredrik memorized the names of different streets, and after obtaining his driver’s license, he drove a friend’s car through areas that were particularly difficult.
“It was very frightening,” he said. “Often I would get lost and have to study the map to get back home since there were no cell phones or GPS in those days. But each time I wanted to give up, I heard my father’s voice saying, ‘Good will come,’ and I was able to continue.”
Fredrik earned the delivery job, and because of his willingness to work hard, he was soon the top delivery person in the restaurant. He shared with me the difficulties of delivering in a large city, the pressure of traffic and the risks in unsafe neighborhoods. All through those years, the belief that something good would come from his challenges continued to sustain him.
“One day,” he said with a smile, “I delivered a pizza to a man who owned a taxi company. He commented that I was always on time and had a good attitude. Then he asked how well I knew the city, and when I told him, he offered me a job driving one of his cabs.”
In only a few years as a taxi driver, Fredrik was able to buy his own cab and then another and another.
“Can you believe it?” he said with a deep laugh. “Today, I own my company. We have six cabs, and I have been able to bring my mother, father and two sisters here to work in the business and become citizens. So even now, when business is hard, I still remember that good will come.”
Sometimes a miracle can be as simple as a change in perspective.
When I got into Fredrik’s cab at the airport, I was consumed with worry, frustration and doubt. By the time we arrived at my hotel, he had reignited two powerful forces — faith and hope. Faith that the purpose and destiny of my life is greater than whatever challenges surround me at this moment, and hope that these very challenges are leading me to an outcome greater than I could have imagined.
Whatever you are facing today, I know what Fredrik would say to you, “Always remember: Good will come.”
Jim Huling is an executive consultant, a national keynote speaker and a professional coach. His leadership experience spans more than 30 years, including a decade as CEO of a company recognized four times as one of the “25 Best Companies to Work For in America.” Huling is also the author of “Choose Your Life! a powerful proven method for creating the life you want.” He can be reached at [email protected].
