{Sunflowers in the Hamptons}
"You never let a serious crisis go to waste. And what I mean by that it's an opportunity to do things you think you could not do before". ~Rahm Emanuel
In Week 34 I looked at the impact of bad news on living an intentional life and how to get back on course. This week I discuss how crisis can be a prelude to creativity.
Have you ever noticed how after a war or military conflict a whole new crop of books are published by writers from those countries? The flash point of war compels them to tell the story of their people and homeland but they also have a need to "create" after so much destruction. Human beings are happiest when they are creating and building. Crisis is all about destruction and the elimination of the "old way" but it can also be a prelude to a period of creativity and rebuilding.
The turning point can be a crisis of faith, conscience, commitment or even a physical event such as a disease or death. Sometimes it doesn't even have to be happening to you. I have joked on numerous occasion that when my ex-husband had a mid-life crisis MY whole life changed. Think about your own life. Have you experienced a crisis? What did you do after the dust cleared? Did your life revert back to what it was before the crisis or did you embark upon a different, even more creative journey?
I am not advocating that we create a crisis to generate creativity and action. I am suggesting that you view the aftermath of a crisis as an opportunity. An opportunity to embrace the creativity that comes with change. Instead of continually lamenting what was lost, take the time to analyze what you learned from the crisis and put those lessons into action. As an example, 2008 started a financial decline that caught most people by surprise. But as the economy and personal income has improved many people are not just reverting back to the same patterns as before the Great Recession but actively creating a different, more value based life. Whatever turning point comes your way, focus on it as an opportunity to be more creative and build something spectacular.
Week 35 Assignment: Write down three time of intense difficulty that have occurred in your life and describe how your life changed because of those turning points. How did you apply the lessons learned from those events to your life.
Get caught up on the entire Intentional Living series:
- Week 1: The Importance of Taking Time to Think
- Week 2: Asking the Right Questions
- Week 3: What is working in your life?
- Week 4: Do you have your priorities straight?
- Week 5: Are you moving forward?
- Week 6: Setting Lifetime Priorities
- Week 7: Decision Time
- Week 8: Planning
- Week 9: Review
- Week 10: Four Reasons Why
- Week 11: Are You Being True to Yourself?
- Week 12: Self Realization
- Week 13: Sharing Your Vision
- Week 14: Do You Have the Key to Success?
- Week 15: Do You Remember When?
- Week 16: Is Course Correction Possible?
- Week 17: Fear As A Motivator
- Week 18: The Crazymaker In Your Life
- Week 19: Stay Focused!
- Week 20: Relationships
- Week 21: Cognitive Gridlock
- Week 22: One Thing At A Time
- Week 23: Cause and Effect
- Week 24: What's Your Story?
- Week 25: Boredom
- Week 26: Exhaustion
- Week 27: A Change of Scenery
- Week 28: Getting Back On Track
- Week 29: How To Say No
- Week 30: What is the Rhythm Of Your Life?
- Week 31: Do you live in the moment or in the future?
- Week 32: Are You On Auto-Pilot?
- Week 33: Follow Through
- Week 34: Bad News