Option 1 – Something bad happens and you stop, become paralyzed and haunted by it, and are a victim.
Option 2 – Something bad happens, it sucks and you cry for a very short time, then see what opportunities arise as a result, (or make one). You keep moving forward and discover that it happened not to you, but for you.
Tell us in the comments, what bad thing happened that turned out to be good?
My business failed. But because of the lessons I learned I was able to go to work for someone else and helped that business become the dominant player in the market.
Was leading a christian org and ran into opposition at the board level by 2 rogue members. I resigned after a year not knowing what to do and ended up being offered the national interim director role.
Back in March when the economy stalled in the early stages of the pandemic. I wasn’t quite sure how things would shake out and how long we could weather the storm. My employees had questions that I didn’t have answers to. It forced me to take a hard look at my business, trim the fat, replace some people that were not a good fit, and pay off some debt to focus on liquidity. Now we’re running lean and mean and it turned out to be a blessing in disguise.
I was born without knowing who my mom was. I only saw her pictures when I was 19. I was never close to my dad as he had another family and my step mom was cruel to me and both of them would always beat me when I was a child. my physical, mental, emotional and psychological states were hit tremendously . My grandpa took over of taking care of me when my dad died until I was 19 and he passed away after that. Growing up I kept on asking myself of why my life was miserable, why was I born if I would only experience these stuff in my life, why did not I have my mom for me to cry to, why my dad and my step mom were so cruel to me, why my grandpa left me…Alot of why’s. I would always cry and sometimes thought of leaving the world too. But when I felt the embrace and love of God and made me realize that everything happens for a reason and that all those experiences would make me stronger in life, my perception of life had changed.
Now, I am happily married, with decent job, closer to God and able to be a volunteer to the community who have experienced the same things I have experienced in life and help and encourage them to get back on their feet and be strong as God is with them, never leaves them nor forsakes them, same as what he did to me and been doing.
The end of prior roles allowed me to find this role. For many reasons, I am grateful for patience today!
I had 7 seizures due to a drug addiction. I have since been clean for 10 years and never looked back. I now have three health children and a beautiful wife that I thank God for everyday! I use my experience to help keep my co-workers spirts high when they are down. I try to explain to them it could always be worse.
Excellent work Larry. These really helps to keep anyone with their feet on the ground.
What happened for me was falling down of stairs at a customers house and destroyed both of my shoulders and my cervical spine. I have had 3 very complicated surgeries to repair these shoulders and one of them is torn again. Still trying to figure out why I cannot walk, talk, sit etc without pain in my spine and base of my skull. The good thing that came about from this is that I am no longer in a company where the culture was to make your fellow workers look bad even though they might be overwhelmed by the amount of work on their plate or an injury, etc, and lost alot of people that I thought were real friends but they never returned my calls. That to me, is actually a gift as having true friends that you can count on, no matter what the circumstances, is what makes life worth living!
I brought a close friend into my business as a minority partner, to help me continue to grow it and allow me to have more time off. I had spent the previous 18 years starting and growing the business. His leadership led to the losing of several loyal and long term employees, some of whom were dear friends, and one of them my daughter. In addition, my marriage hit rock bottom during this time, and it looked like I would lose that as well. A year and a half after brining this “friend” in as a minority partner, we were bought out by a larger company; I stayed on and continue to work for them. My 7% minority partner sued me, and is trying to take 100% of the proceeds of the sale of the business. I have spent hundreds of thousands in legal fees defending myself, with no end in sight. It appears all of the fruits of my labor over the past 20 years will be spent on attorneys. As a result, instead of early retirement, I am facing 10 more years of work. In the midst of this, God has shown me I wasn’t trusting Him and His provision, which led to these difficulties. He has taught me to trust Him completely. Today, my marriage is completely restored, as is my relationship with my daughter. I have peace that passes understanding in the midst of this fight, and I am so very grateful for my family and my job. But most of all I am grateful for all that God has taught me through this, and I trust him completely. He truly is faithful and Good.