You hear that phrase sometimes, right? “He’ll give us what we need.” Sounds nice, maybe something people say when things are tough. For a long time, I just thought it was, well, just words. Something to make you feel a bit better when you’re scraping the bottom of the barrel.
But then, I actually lived through a time that made me think about it differently. It wasn’t some big miracle or anything dramatic like you see in movies. It was messier. More real.
The Bottom Drops Out
It started when I got let go from my job. Wasn’t really expecting it. One day you’re working, planning stuff, the next you’re packing your desk in a cardboard box. Felt like a punch to the gut. Had a family, bills, you know the drill. Panic started setting in pretty quick.
So, I did what everyone does. Polished the resume, started applying everywhere. Sent out dozens, maybe hundreds of applications. Got a few interviews, but nothing stuck. Heard a lot of “we’ll keep your resume on file” which everyone knows means “don’t call us, we’ll call you… never.” It was rough. Felt pretty useless, honestly.
After weeks of this, banging my head against the wall, I figured I needed to try something different. Had this small idea I’d been kicking around, a little website project. Nothing fancy. Thought maybe I could build it, see if it could bring in even a tiny bit of cash.
Running on Fumes
Problem was, I had almost zero resources. Savings were dwindling fast. My main computer was old, slow as molasses. Internet connection was shaky sometimes. I didn’t have money for fancy software or cloud services. It felt like trying to build a house with just a pocket knife and some twigs.
I started working on it anyway. Mostly late at night, after the kids were asleep. Just plugging away, writing code line by line. There were so many times I got stuck.
- Needed a specific way to handle user logins. Couldn’t figure it out for days. Almost gave up. Then, digging through some ancient online forum from like, ten years ago, I found a snippet of code someone posted. Wasn’t perfect, but it was close enough. Exactly what I needed to get past that block.
- Money got really tight one week. Like, really tight. Worrying about groceries tight. Out of the blue, an old colleague texted me. Said he had a tiny freelance task, fixing some bug for a client of his. Took me a few hours. Paid just enough to cover food for that week. Just what we needed, right when we needed it.
- Felt completely isolated. Just me and the glowing screen. Then my neighbor, totally randomly, asked what I was working on. Showed him the rough version. He wasn’t a tech guy, but he asked a simple question that made me realize a huge flaw in my design. That outside perspective? Didn’t know I needed it, but man, it saved me weeks of going down the wrong path.
Just Enough
The project didn’t suddenly explode and make me rich. It didn’t solve all my problems overnight. But it started working. People started using it, just a few at first. Then it started bringing in a little bit of money. Not a lot. But enough to cover the internet bill. Enough to feel like I wasn’t completely failing. Enough to keep going.
Looking back, it wasn’t about getting everything I wanted. I wanted a stable job offer right away. I wanted a faster computer. I wanted certainty. Didn’t get any of that.
But the essential things? The specific piece of information, the small bit of cash exactly when needed, the critical feedback? Those things showed up. Just enough. Just in time. Maybe that’s what “he’ll give us what we need” really means. It’s not about a magic wand. It’s about finding that, somehow, the absolute essentials tend to appear, allowing you to take the next step. You still have to do the work, you still have to struggle, but maybe, just maybe, you’re not entirely alone in that fight. You get what you need, not always what you wish for.