Oh my – have you ever started a year with gusto only to be sideswiped a few months into it? I assume that I’m not alone in this. It’s kinda how life happens. Curveball after curveball. This post is about what to do when things go wrong.
This will be the first blog post that I’ve written since early March. The reason for this is that a close family member has been going through a crisis of rather epic proportions and I’ve consciously made the choice to put my energy into helping this person because I love them and they are important to me. That meant that I had to take a break from the blog.
What do you do when this happens to you? Now that I’ve been sitting in this chaos for a few months and resources are being put in place so that I can start to see my way through it, I thought I’d drop you all some of my thoughts on what to do when things go wrong.
- Life is unpredictable. There are very few things that are certain in this life, except I’ve learned that life is full of the unexpected. We go through all sorts of changes in life. Change can and should be expected.
- People are resilient. I’d love to say that I was prepared for this since I have handled my fair share of life’s problems but I wasn’t. We’ve forayed into a whole new set of problems that need our attention. We weren’t prepared but we are resilient.
- Resources are plentiful… but not immediate. Every single week something new has been happening and each time there’s another event we are provided with a new and better set of resources. It has taken a lot of effort to secure the resources that we needed to help us through this.
- Flexibility is necessary. I really thrive in an environment where I am able to set goals and a plan to fulfill those goals. This was one of those times where I had to be flexible and put some things on the back burner, for now.
- Prioritize, prioritize, prioritize. This is the time to say no to opportunities in life that you may have said yes to at a different time. You can’t give all your attention, energy and resources to many things, we all need to prioritize.
- Write it down. Take good notes and maintain a to do list. When the world gets topsy turvy it can be hard to concentrate and remember all that’s been said and needs to be done. Carry a notepad or make notes in your phone, whatever works for you.
So, with all this I can say that we will make our way through this crisis. If you are dealing with big events these days too, rest assured that you will also make it through. If there’s one thing humans do well it’s figuring out what to do when things go wrong.
We live in a big, messy world with big, messy problems – but nothing lasts forever and we will endure and come out the other end way stronger.
Let’s celebrate the small wins when times are hard. Ask yourself these questions:
- What did you learn?
- Are you carving out some time and resources to take care of yourself?
- Has this challenge provided you with opportunities for creative problem-solving?
- Have you given grace, even when it’s hard to be gracious?
- What are the long-term effects of what’s happening now? Are there any positives?
- Are you maintaining your integrity and do your actions match up with your values? Sometimes these are set aside in hard times, it’s a real win when you can hold onto those values.
- Have you deepened other relationships as you’ve reached out for support?
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