Never Waste a Calamity

Every calamity is a spur and a valuable hint. – Emerson

Yes, I am riffing off the recent political meme in the post title. (“Never let a crisis go to waste.” (Attributed, I believe, to Rahm Emanuel).)

That aside, Emerson’s words are an extremely valuable reminder.

We ignore “failures” and “calamities” at our peril.

Every result comes from a cause. And whether our role in the “cause” was 1% or 100%, we do indeed have a role in everything we experience.

When we notice and reflect on the results in our lives we can do better in creating/shaping/influencing the causes.

When we ignore, or are otherwise oblivious to, the cause-and-effect nature of life we have little chance to create the sort of life we want.

The key is to own both the successes and failures – they are both just results (owing from causes… ).

Similar Posts

  • What To Do . . .

    If it strengthens you, embrace it. If it challenges you, solve it. If it weakens you, replace it. Who said that? That was me. I have a couple more: If it repeats, question it (deeply, truly investigate it). If it hurts you, love it (and let it go).

  • How Feelings Work

    I was reading a blog post from Seth Godin and about 2/3rds of the way through, he said the following: Stop engaging with the false theory that the best way to stop feeling like a failure is to succeed. – Seth Godin It hit me like a ton of bricks. Sometimes you have to identify…

  • What Guides You?

    Set your course by the stars, not by the lights of every passing ship. – General Omar Bradley So many people take their cues from without. Whether it’s loved ones, friends, co-workers/bosses or popular culture, so many are (heavily) influenced by the continuous and myriad messages that permeate modern life. The cure? Learn to be…