Did you ever notice that when things are going smoothly in your life, when you’re comfortable, you tend to go with the flow and time seems to fly by?
And when bad things happen, when adversity rears its ugly head, everything seems to move in slow motion. You’re thinking all the time. Your mind is filled with overwhelming, confusing and painful thoughts about what’s happened.
If you drive with your eyes focused on the rearview mirror, you’ll see only where you’ve been. You may even crash. However, if you focus on the road ahead, you’ll see where you’re going. Your destination!
In the same way, if you focus on adversity, the painful experiences in your life, you’ll feel only the hurt, pain, and sorrow of that time. However, if you challenge yourself to look ahead and identify a destination, a goal, a purpose, then you’ll have the opportunity to grow.
Now, don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying that in the immediate wake of a tragedy we should sit down, while sobbing, and ask ourselves, “How can I grow from this?” Certainly, no one would choose to experience a tragedy as a way to make a life change. But when a crisis presents itself, we have an opportunity to grow.
Look around you. People who’ve achieved the most in life haven’t always had the easiest lives. A crisis often provides the unique fuel that drives so many people to achieve.
Your experience, this crisis, presents an opportunity—an opportunity that can propel you to set goals, make decisions and take action!