“What I didn’t realize at that point in my life was that I had low self-esteem,” he said. “I needed someone who needed me. I felt terrible if I didn’t try to rescue my girl.” In this way, Donald went through three girlfriends, each with their own unique emotional problems.
When he turned 30, he felt so burned out from his corporate job and from dealing with his personal life that he decided to leave everything familiar behind. He resigned from his position at the credit card company, and applied for a job at CARE International, hoping to be assigned anywhere “as far
away from Nova Scotia as possible,” as Donald put it.
Donald was assigned to a program in the slums of Mumbai, India. Working in India helped him gain more peace of mind and self-confidence.
“I had been feeling the need to be powerful and indispensable all my life, and I was attracted to girls who needed me like no one else did,” he said. “But when I found myself surrounded by people who were really poor, I was struck by how resilient many of them were. Especially the younger people. They didn’t display the sort of despair or aimlessness I saw in, say, the newcomers at a drug rehab center. They had tremendous hope in life, despite their poverty, which amazed me.”
Their attitude left a deep mark in Donald. Somewhere along the way, he developed a great affinity for people who didn’t act all hopeless or helpless even under adversity.