Can a life threatening situation be a blessing?
I often write about, and teach on, the importance of keeping priorities in balance. I know the value of this because it has made such a huge difference in my life in the last 20 years. I have “walked the walk”, not always easily, and I’ve fallen down more than a few times, but in general, I’ve stuck to my priorities of time for health and relationships in addition to working diligently in my pursuits. I didn’t say career, because I crossed the bridge years ago and turned my pursuits into my career.
Having said this, last year was incredible for me as an “awakening.” Melanie’s diagnosis, and subsequent path to healing brought something even clearer to me that is one of the greatest realizations I could ever ask for. I’m a touch obsessive (sarcasm) once I set goals, and I also come from a long line of “worriers.” As an entrepreneur, this can be a serious emotional challenge. Being self-employed means that you are taking a risk on yourself, and that risk also impacts those people in your life that depend on your ability to create a sustainable income.
When you combine this with a tendency to worry and an over-developed sense of responsibility, not to mention the human desire to “control” you have a formula for emotional struggle. I have been blessed that I have done well financially, and that my willingness to work where my heart is and work hard (both in my business and on myself), has made a nice life for my family. But this past year, with the journey of Melanie’s health challenge, God blessed me with something I could never have foreseen.
I used to worry about risks I would take. I am not a careless risk taker anyway, but still, I frequently take risks, because lets face it…if you aren’t willing to go out on a limb, you won’t get much fruit! Now I realize with total clarity, that I could lose everything else I have, monetarily and materially, and while I wouldn’t like it, I would be fine as long as I am together with Melanie.
What an incredibly freeing blessing. With as busy as I am in life, helping people (in my quest to help a million people), I’m not certain that I would ever have gotten quiet enough to realize this without having to face the possibility of losing her. She is the greatest treasure in my life on earth. Material treasure can always be rebuilt if need be because who you have become allows you to be able to apply yourself and rebuild if you were to lose it. But a relationship treasure, that’s what it’s all about.
So the answer to the initial question is an emphatic YES!
When you are faced with hardships in your future, and you will be because life is not an endless summer, try to keep in perspective that something of immense value is actually happening at the moment. It won’t be easy, and it won’t be clear at the time, but you will eventually see it, and you might even become grateful for it.
Further, don’t wait to be clear about what you truly treasure. Treasure each day with the people you love. You don’t need a crisis to reveal how important they are if you will take the time to reflect now.
