One Way Bus Ticket

Themes: Optimism, overcoming challenges
Helpful for: Life transition, anxiety/fear

Imagine being 13 years old and learning that a new amusement park has just opened up near where you live… keeping in mind that at that age, “near” means 200 miles away. But, you’re determined to get to that park. Saving for a trip becomes your sole focus for a whole year - and by the end of that year and hundreds of odd jobs around the neighborhood, you’ve got enough to pay for your visit to that theme park. What a moment! After all of your hard work, something good is going to happen to you!

The Trip

Until reality hits, and now you have to figure out how to get there. Since you’re 13, driving is out of the question… and the state trooper tells you so after attempting to get a dirtbike out on the highway with your friends. So, what do you do? The bus station seems like the next best option. Never mind that you can’t actually buy a ticket because you’re… 13 years old. There’s something about the spirit of a young teenager - some piece of them that just won’t quit when there’s a thing that they want. So this 13 year old you finds someone to buy them a bus ticket so the theme park is finally within reach. Nevermind that the bus has to stop 100 times before it gets to your station. Or that it’s still a 2 mile walk to the park. You MADE it. The air smells like fried food. There’s screaming on the coasters and sweet treats everywhere you look. You spend the whole day at that theme park: riding every ride, eating way too much food, and closing the park down. It’s a dream come true… especially after all of that hard work. Nothing feels as good to you as closing down that theme park, walking out as the lights close and hiking your way back to that bus stop.

A One-Way Ticket

But the night… It’s about to get difficult. You head up to the ticket counter, the only place that seems to have an employee, and ask when the bus will arrive - handing over your ticket from earlier. The employee laughs a little and hands you back your ticket. Turns out that the ticket that stranger bought for you… well, it’s only a one-way ticket. Plus, the bus that you need won’t be back for another 2 days. It’s just you and that ticket counter employee - and the other bus driver who’s about to head up north with an empty bus (his route is done and he has to prep for tomorrow’s work). What are you going to do? Everything about today has been a dream. You made it to the park and had the time of your life. And now, you’re stranded 200 miles from home and without anyone knowing where you are. At this moment, it’s easy to feel defeated. It wouldn’t be surprising to feel like you’ve been dragged underwater and have no way to breathe. You’re stranded! At a dark bus stop 200 miles from home - with almost no one to help you and no cell phone. But, what if instead of feeling defeated, optimism and opportunity floated near the surface of your emotions. What if instead of feeling dragged down, you continued to look for a way home - or a way out? And what if it turns out that one of those employees has to drive their bus back home, up north and that they were willing to drive you. What would you do? Sit in the dark, waiting for 2 days because it wasn’t what you planned or hop on the bus with the employee who has to go near where you live? The answer is pretty simple: You get on that bus. And 13 year old you has the night of their life dancing in the aisles of an empty bus flying up the highway, scarfing down a cheeseburger from McDonald’s and even getting to honk the horn of the bus at your friends on their usual corner spot once you get home. Because you kept the optimism and the possibility of something working out alive - it did. So… what’s the lesson here? The idea of this story is that even when things feel really scary or really hard, there’s always a way back. That ticket said “one-way” and in the end, it wound up allowing that 13 year old kid to get home - with a little optimism. When we treat life as something that’s always challenging (and it is, don’t get me wrong!), there’s a tendency to feel dragged around and let down, a lot. But, when we look for opportunities to change that mentality, we grow stronger. And over time, it really is possible to come back from whatever deep or dark moments life hands you. You just have to remember that there’s always a way back.