Building resilience happened early for me, in the most embarrassing way possible. If you spent your childhood afraid of slumber parties, you know what I’m talking about.
The horror of waking up groggy at a friend’s house, only to discover your bladder has betrayed you. Eight sleeping faces around you. Wet sleeping bag underneath you. And exactly zero good options.
I was a chronic bedwetter. It was one of the most formative experiences of my life.
The High-Stakes Problem
Going to a slumber party when you’re a bedwetter takes courage. Every invitation is a risk assessment. Will you wake up dry? Will anyone find out? Do they have a washing machine?
And when the worst happens? That’s when you really have to be on your game.
They say overweight kids learn to be funny to compensate. Bedwetters have to be funny AND develop intense problem-solving skills at a very young age. Because there’s a big difference between wetting the bed and having someone discover you wet the bed.
The 7-Year-Old’s Covert Operation
Picture it: you’re seven, lying in a wet Ninja Turtle sleeping bag, eight friends sprawled across the living room. It’s 8am. The parents won’t be up until 10.
A rookie panics. A pro keeps a cool head.
You assess the situation. Laundry room is next to the kitchen. You ball up your linens, run a short wash cycle. Find spare swim trunks in the guest room. Change. Toss your wet clothes in with the bedding.
The carpet’s damp. You find pet spot remover under the sink, spray it down, flip on the overhead fan. Swan dive into the backyard pool for a chlorine bath. Move the laundry to the dryer with some towels to speed it up. Butter a bagel. Start the coffee.
When everyone wakes up, you’re a picture of innocence, drinking coffee and reading the Wall Street Journal.
You’re seven. You’ve already mastered crisis management.
The Skills That Stuck
Wetting the bed was a lot for a kid to handle. And when you don’t cover your tracks? When you wake up to wet shorts and eight pointing fingers? You learn something even more important.
You develop thick skin. You learn to be charming. You make friends with everyone because life is easier with allies.
Nothing in the business world compares to the ridicule a group of 10-year-olds can unleash.
By the time you stop wetting the bed, you’ve already built the survival skills most people spend decades developing: charisma, quick thinking, resilience, the ability to turn a disaster into a manageable situation.
Those laughing kids will grow up cowering from adversity. But the bedwetter has already been there. Already built the calluses. Already learned that embarrassment doesn’t kill you.
The Takeaway
My name is Jon. When I was a kid, I wet the bed. To counter this physical flaw, I learned to be charismatic, thick-skinned, assertive, and funny.
These skills stuck long after the problem went away. They just happen to be the same skills that work in the adult world.
Sometimes the worst thing that happens to you as a child becomes the foundation for everything good that follows.
This is the lens the Bible is meant to be read through.
Explore the Jesus Lightning book series for mystical Bible interpretation that reveals the inner meaning of Scripture.