The Straw that Broke the Camels Back

The Survivors Guide to being Homeless: Part 1

My experience of being homeless has really taught me so much. I remember when I was younger i would wonder to myself how do you get to the position of sleeping on the street. It wasn't until I went through a situation that I realised how easy it would be. As a result of our situation I feel I want to pass on what I have learnt that is helping me to survive. 

It seems that each day some new challenge comes along that just makes it that much harder to remain positive in the situation. So I am writing this survival guide as much for myself as for someone else who mitt be going through this. You see the small things in life that just wouldn't phase you ordinarily can just push you that step too far making it seemingly impossible to cope. Let me give you an example. 

We live in a bedsit which means there are communal areas, shared facilities and people with which to share all of this with. This week our buggy tyre has been slashed, I found blood in the bathtub and it wasn't my families, and the people broke into a room in the building which we have all been told off for. But do you know what the straw is that almost broke the camels back? Well it wasn't the fact that we sleep on a sofa bed which now seems like it's breaking. It wasn't that I have no funds so even going to the store to buy a bottle for the baby is impossible. It was the rice cooker breaking down! Let me tell you the story. 

My husband had gone out with a friend, I had put the baby to bed and it was my turn to get some food. I thought the easiest this was some rice so off I went put the rice and water in turned it on closed the kitchen door went into the other room and closed that door and sat down and waited. Now you have to close each door because you don't have a flat you have rooms and so privacy is just not an option unless the doors are closed and even then you can hear inside each room. But as I sat there I knew something was wrong so I got up and went back into the kitchen. Upon entering there was a strange smell that hit my nose and I realised the lights were not on the rice cooker I checked the plug and sure enough it was broken. Now I know your sitting there thinking hey how can a rice cooker be such a big deal, well it is. When the kitchen space you have been given is the size of a box the rice cooker it a life easier and now it's gone. Now since in this story I am the camel I happy to tell you my back didn't break but should I let you into the secret of why? Well because I laughed. 

You see the first thing that you need to survive the homeless situation is a friend with whom you can laugh about the silliness of the situation. Without that there can be many a crazy day. 

So if you are ever in the position of losing your home for whatever the reason I think there are a few tips that should help to keep you sane and I plan to share with you my tips to surviving being homeless and first up is laughter. Trust me this one will come up again and again but that's because you cannot underestimate the power of laughter.