Being demoted was the best thing to happen

Earlier this year I was told I was being demoted at my job and that was the best thing to happen to me. The position I held before my demotion was store manager and that was a demanding position. Of course, I knew of the immense stress that was going to occur as the store manager when I accepted the promotion offer six months prior - I've been through hell and back before being promoted. It doesn't mean however that the stress still didn't throw me down from time to time.

The reason I was told by my Area Supervisor was that several employees were fired by Loss Prevention due to one reason or another under my leadership. Granted, I didn't know what the reasons originally were because it was kept secret from me on a need-to-know basis. Later I was told that some were fired due to theft and they were caught on the security camera. Still not sure how it happened at all to this day, but whatever.

Leading up to my demotion I was beyond stressed and it wasn't only work-related, but also some personal emotions I was dealing with at the time. Both the culmination of work-related and personal stress drove me somewhat insane for a month or two before my demotion to the point I broke down and cried in my car during my meal break.

Since I was the store manager, I would be on the receiving end of all the criticisms and I wasn't in the right mindset to deal with all of that when I had some personal issues I was still dealing with. The situation I was in made me feel depressed like never before and I didn't know how to process it.

It was hard focusing on all the management tasks (paperwork and such) and meeting deadlines. Plus, with several employees gones, a few were assistant managers, it was extremely hard with scheduling and keeping the store in tip-top shape.

Luckily, my Area Supervisor talked to me one day and explained how it wasn't her decision and how she wanted to prevent it from coming to the point where I had to be demoted. She was telling me how this decision was coming from Loss Prevention and how it wasn't because I did something wrong. I was happily telling her that it was fine and I understood why the demotion had to happen. I guess I was a little disappointed, but after the conversation, I pondered and realized I was just saved from continuing stress.

Of course, it won't end all the work-related stress as I'll still need to know how to do tasks associated with the store manager, but now I'm not the main person expected to do those tasks and criticized when something goes wrong. It was such a huge relief for me as I could feel more relaxed. The demotion was to the Co-Manager position, the position I held before Store Manager, and it was a step below Store Manager (think of the job of a U.S. vice president). That meant someone would take over my position and thereby the responsibilities I had. Definitely, way less stress for me.

Sometimes I wonder why I accepted the original promotion offer. I do like my job at Little Caesars; just to be clear. It's just that sometimes shit happens where I feel like it's the worse job ever, but that's just life. You get some good days and some bad days. Working alongside my co-workers is fun and every day is a new experience and in the end, that's what matters.