Buttprints in the Sand.

A lesser known poem that we all need to hear.

You might have seen the "Footprints in the Sand" poem, it was popular poster art, especially in the 1980s/90s. The poem is about a person seeing the footprints of the Lord walking next to them in life, but looking back at hard times, there was but one set. The person questioned why the Lord left when needed the most. The Lord responded that it was during these hardest moments of life that the Lord WAS there, carrying the person along.

Like many of us these days, I know quite a lot of people who have been going through tough times lately, whether it be family/life situations, loss or layoffs…many of which I see due to my line of work as a career coach.

One day a phone call came from my sister…

50+ years old and having worked for the last 10 years in a very fulfilling role advising college students on health professions career paths, it was a pure shock. The college wasn’t doing do as well as it used to. She was let go. Colliding at the same time with health issues, it was a perfect storm, so I flew out to see her. She had this not-so-well-known satirical version of the famous Footprints in the Sand. It was called…

Buttprints in the Sand

One night I had a wondrous dream,

One set of footprints there was seen,

The footprints of my precious Lord,

But mine were not along the shore.

But then some strange prints appeared,

And I asked the Lord, “What have we here?

Those prints are large and round and neat,

But Lord, they are too big for feet.”

“My child,” He said in somber tones,

“For miles I carried you alone.

I challenged you to walk in faith,

But you refused and made me wait.

“You disobeyed, you would not grow,

The walk of faith, you would not know,

So I got tired, I got fed up,

And there I dropped you on your butt.

Because in life, there comes a time,

When one must fight, and one must climb,

When one must rise and take a stand,

Or leave their buttprints in the sand.

The irony of the situation was that this had been hanging on her refrigerator for sometime. My sister had been thinking about a job change, she was looking to grow in her work and make a bigger impact, yet she hadn’t made any big efforts towards the change for many reasons. Getting let go was the drop in the sand.

In the months that followed she networked and networked, especially within the professional organization to which she belonged. She pursued jobs similar to what she had been doing and career paths that were different, but would leverage her skills. She overcame her health issues and had to maintain a ton of resilience during this painful time of being in limbo and not knowing if everything would be ok. There were days when she felt down, but she persevered. The job search and interview process was not easy and was very time consuming. Staying confident when being ghosted and finding out you didn’t get the job can take a toll. But she kept going…

And on the other side she got an even BETTER job, doing what she is really good at and loves. She is at a BETTER school, had the opportunity to move to a new, cool place and in her new home, on a new refrigerator, hangs Buttprints in the Sand.

In her own words…

A quote from my sister on the power of networking.

“Little did I know how important my (National Associate of Advisors of Health Professions NAAHP) network would be to me…With no warning, the Health Professions Advising Center I had built over 10+ years was eliminated along with my job. This was devastating, to say the least, but my network was there for me. I am forever grateful for all who provided emotional support, shared job ads, leads, tips and feedback on resumes and cover letters. My job search included positions not only in advising, but in medical school admissions, professional associations, and even extended beyond academia into healthcare organizations. In so many cases, I was able to draw on the relationships I had built over my years of advising and reach out to fellow NAAHP members at various institutions and organizations to get the “inside scoop” on various positions to which I applied. Through my professional network, I had “inside connections” at so many of the positions to which I applied, and it made all the difference.”

My sister is an inspiration. Hard times can and will happen to all of us. The drop on the butt is painful. And when this happens, I love this reminder that at the end of the day, we must fight and take a stand…for ourselves…get up and keep going! Life will not stay stagnant. Something else will happen. It always does.

Powerful Question 032:

What has been the last buttprint in the sand moment for you and how are your rising up?

Paid subscribers continue reading for 5 key next steps when you get stuck in pursuing your next career move. Whether you are early-career, mid-career or exploring how you want to spend your time post-retirement, these 5 reflections can help generate new action steps to keep you going.