My Story ...And Why I Started An Online Business

by Bill Darton Freelance Digital Marketer

This is a story of a man who married young, became a hopeless dream chaser, struggled to raise his family and finally found stability as a blue-collar worker driving tractor trailer.

Even though I finally managed to land a steady job with decent pay, I still never felt secure. The fact is, truck driving is unpredictable, you work long hours and you're only one physical exam from suddenly losing everything. And, that's where I find myself right now.

Currently I am preparing to return to work after a one year absence due to a medical incident I had at work last year. It has been a scary and stressful time indeed.

It all started last June. It was a Thursday, the fourth hot day in a row, the fourth long day in a row. And, on this particular day, I hadn't eaten much, hadn't drank much and hadn't slept much the night before.

It was a perfect storm and an ideal setting for a tragedy.

My wife and I have always had one car between us. This particular day, she had the car so she could get groceries and run a few errands. After I finished my last delivery I called her so she could pick me up at the company yard. Here I was, just 5 minutes away from the end of what should have been a normal, productive day.

...Or So I Thought!

I left the customer's receiving dock, pulled onto the street, drove a couple blocks, and then

...I Passed Out At The Wheel!

And, I couldn't have picked a better place to do it. As you leave the industrial area I was in, you immediately enter busiest shopping district in town.

Somehow I managed to drift through the busiest intersection in an out-of-control tractor trailer - while I was completely conked out at the wheel. With the Grace of God, the Holy Family, several Angels and few Saints, My truck managed to get through the intersection without coming in contact with any other vehicles or pedestrians. I woke up with my truck stuck up against a light post in the median on the other side of the intersection.

As I came to, a good Samaritan coaxed me through my semi-conscious state and convinced me to put the truck in park and turn the ignition off. After that, I quickly recovered and the ambulance had already arrived. I walked into the ambulance so they could check me out, then they took me to the hospital.

The emergency doctor ran me through a number of tests but everything came back negative. I told the doctor about the day I had - filling him in about the "perfect storm" I mentioned earlier.

Even though the doctor figured that I probably just fell asleep from exhaustion, he still felt obligated to pull my license until they could determine what was wrong with me. I just tried to keep my chin up, stay positive and hoped to get back to work in a couple months.

The man upstairs had other plans!

As it turned out, I did have other underlying issues after all. During the various tests I had to undergo, it was discovered that I had heart problems. Before I knew it, I was booked in for a quadruple bypass heart surgery!

This was clearly the scariest point in my life.

Thankfully the surgery went well. However, during the recovery, it was discovered that I also had respiratory problems as well. This lead to a diagnosis of emphysema and sleep apnea. The emphysema was mild but the sleep apnea was moderate. This meant that I had to go on a CPAP machine in order to get my drivers license back. Suddenly I had to get used to sleeping with a mask and hose strapped to my head.

By this time I was starting to wonder if I was ever going to get back to work. It was at this time that I finally realized that I better start thinking about what I was going to do for a living if I couldn't get my drivers license back. I had ZERO interest in being a dispatcher and after 25+ years of driving truck I didn't really have any marketable skills.

Over the years I had been dabbling in online marketing. MLM, direct marketing, email marketing, affiliate marketing, etc. I always felt it was something I could do if I just put my mind to it. For the most part I just kept it on the back burner because my truck driving just got in the way. Every now and then I would give it more attention but nothing much ever materialized. I would make a few sales here and there but nothing ever stuck for the long term.

Then, just as I was completing my recovery and getting ready to return to work, I saw an ad from a young woman who decided to take a chance on an online business building system. At first, instead of trying to learn about the system, I started building excuses to prevent me from taking it seriously.

I said, convincing myself, "Sure, look at her, she's cute, she's perky, she has a quirky personality... of course SHE's succeeding... attractive people attract a lot of attention... it's easy to be successful when everyone wants to be around you... when they want to hang around with you... when they want to be a part of your team... am I right?"

It didn't take long and I started seeing more and more of these ads. Many of the promoters fit the same mold of the first young lady. Honestly, I can't even say what made me do it but something compelled me to check into it even further.

Boy! Am I Ever Glad I Did!

As it turned out, there were many other people, from all walks of life, who were succeeding with this system. Men, women, young and old. Some were young and perky, some were older and reserved and everything in between.

The one thing that they all had in common was a burning desire to live a life of meaning and passion. They were not going to settle for a life of mediocrity. They have seen the "other side" and they can't unsee it. There is no going back to the old way of thinking.

As I near retirement, with no pension to look forward to, by the way, I have made the decision that these are the kind of people that I want to associate with, to hang out with, to spend the rest of my life with.

That's my story - and, why I started an online business.

If you'd like to take this journey with me, or at least investigate it further, just comment or connect with me and I will be happy to pass on the details.