I used to sell dabeli from home at the age of 8.
I wasn't born with a silver spoon, and nothing was handed to me in the early years of growing up.
Due to financial challenges of a typical middle-class family, my mom started making dabeli from home.
I was her key distribution personnel.
Nay, the only distribution personnel because my brother was much younger.
I used to have the dabelis wrapped in newspaper cuttings and delivered them to clients that had already placed the orders ahead of time.
They paid 5 rupees per dabeli if my memory serves me right. About 10 cents given the exchange rate between INR/USD then.
Since this wasn't the era of food delivery apps or smart phones, the marketing, sales, branding, etc., was all just a word of mouth game.
My mom's dabelis were extremely delicious (still are) so customer retention wasn't an issue.
Around 1999, I wasn't quite aware of what it meant to have financial challenges. I was just doing what I was asked of.
I didn't quite wrap my head around the concept of money at that age and didn't think of the circumstance as 'challenge' till I was much older.
(Note to self: maybe that's the reframe needed as adults. Just don't acknowledge situations as challenging.)
I had even forgotten about that experience until I started deeply reflecting about my life.
I now understand the lessons I learned during the brief period when I went door to door delivering dabelis
It has left an immense mark in my personality of feeling grateful for what's in front of me.
I can't quite pinpoint where gratitude comes from for me, but I'm certain it's the culmination of such experiences and having the space to tease out personal meanings and lessons.
PS: if you don't know what a Dabeli is, check this out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u4h6fIZxeMY