Look for the silver lining in every crisis
By Jean Ricot Dormeus
Johnny traveled to a crisis torn and violent country for business and also to spend time with family and friends. He planned to stay for two weeks. On Johnny’s first weekend he visited a church not far from the place where he was staying with his mother. During the night of that visit he heard four gunshots in front of his gate. He remained recoiled on his bed, his heart pounding while praying.
The following morning, Johnny heard that bandits invaded the church and shot the caretaker. He cut short his stay and expressed gratitude for his life. The incident traumatized him, but was able to close a business deal and started to take his spiritual life more seriously.
Crises make us or break us. Often they come with a silver lining or a blessing in disguise. They urge us to take immediate measures to stop ongoing occurrences, to adopt preventive strategies and make us stronger. Failing to do so may result in irreparable consequences.
From his experience, Johnny became aware of his weaknesses and his vulnerability in specific circumstances. He developed the habit of scanning his environment for lurking risks and dangers. He said, “I cannot know the future, but I can do my best to avoid being reckless or negligent by doing due diligence”.
Taking time to know about people in our lives, our workplaces or places where we go can save us from horrible crisis experiences.
Crises may offer us a springboard for growth by forcing us to reevaluate our lifestyle, our goals and our raison d’être. Otherwise we take many things for granted and stay clear of endeavoring to reach our potential.
Like Johnny, let’s learn from what happened to us, especially our moments of crisis. There is a silver lining to every difficult situation.
Jean Ricot Dormeus
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