Oh boy, now this is a toughie. If you are a student you will find this especially challenging. I say this because fellow employees and bosses are more inclined to appreciate what you’re dealing with than fellow high school students. In my junior year of high school I returned from a two-week stay in the hospital and discovered that life had truly changed. Everybody looked at me differently, my friends acted differently, and dealing with everything became quite challenging. I was still at a point where my medications weren’t working correctly, and at that point in my life it was taking so much energy just to handle my own mind that to ask me to deal with constant undue pressure at school was too much. I battled with this issue for months, packing an additional two-week hospital stay in between four more months of school. Eventually, it got to be too much, and I took the equivalency exam. But next fall I entered college and now I have a bachelor of science in Management Information Systems, and I’m working on my MBA. My story aside, the advice I’m going to give in regards to this situation is pretty basic and that is Realize There Is An Alternative.

In life there is ALWAYS another option. Even if you can’t comprehend it at this very moment, there is ALWAYS another path to take. If you can no longer deal with the situation at your school or your job, you can always negotiate another situation. And, as with everything in human life, you can always start over. If school problems get too deep, you can always change schools. If job problems get too stressful you can change jobs. Understand that no matter how tough things are in your current situation you can always switch things around. While I was trying to figure things out in high school, my principal allowed me to switch my schedule around. He also gave me special privileges in order to better facilitate my own healing.

At one of my jobs, things just got to be too much and I started crying in front of one of my supervisors. A six foot seven inch computer technician started weeping, all because of a bad situation with my then girlfriend. But it didn’t matter. My boss understood that sometimes adults have problems that overwhelm them. He wasn’t even bothered by it. He told me to do whatever I had to do to feel better and that if I needed time off I could have it. The fact of the matter was that I was a valued employee and if I had a little problem that required some attention, it didn’t bother him. Employers constantly deal with this kind of stuff. Its normal! Do not worry about it. You know what? If your boss goes crazy when you need to deal with some personal issues, you probably shouldn’t be working there anyway. The day of the super anal boss is gone. In a working environment the atmosphere is much more tailored to keeping valuable employees happy. Happier employees means more efficiency, and that’s what the game of business is all about. So don’t stress!

Remember, the people in charge are usually willing to help. And if they’re not, this world always has another path to walk down. Don’t worry if you need to take one.