When things go wrong in life, it’s easy to feel despair and become despondent. The truth is, a turn of events can come along and just knock us so hard we feel like giving up.
An interesting look at the actual meaning of the word crisis can help us look at such situations in a different way.
What the word crisis means
The word “crisis” comes from a Greek word which means “decisiveness” or “point of decision.” It represents two paths, one holding out the opportunity of things getting better and the other a downward slope where things get worse.
That’s why we refer to the aftermath of a disaster as a crisis because the situation may get worse or better depending on the decisiveness of relief efforts or volunteers.
It’s interesting to note that in such circumstances the best parts of people come out.
Amazing things can happen when a crisis hits
Something that’s truly amazing, is peoples reaction in the aftermath of disaster. They search around the clock for days looking for survivors. They should be physically exhausted but the importance of their efforts seems to pull something superhuman out of them. They must keep going.
A similar scenario can occur in everyday life. I’ve no idea how single parents manage on their own. Somehow the crisis situation pulls something magical out of them, day in and day out for almost 18 years because they must care for their kids.Or what about people suffering with life threatening illnesses. You would think that they would crumble and break down emotionally. Yet they and their family members display decisiveness in their actions and face things so bravely.
Can we look at a crisis a little differently
We will face crisis situations in our lives at some point. That moment of decision where we know we either have to stand tall or be thrown to the gutter by life.
The thing about a crisis is that 9 times out of 10 we respond. In fact people who respond positively and turn around, let’s say something like a financial crisis, often succeed. They make a decision in their mind and decide things must get better. When we respond like this things usually do get better. Often times an error that we’ve been making all our life can be corrected despite our background because the crisis situation forces us to change.
For example, take the example of a couple who have been married for years. They love one another but it’s not till one partner threatens to leave or cheats that they change something in their relationship because they know they must or it’ll be over.
We can take decisive action that may prove to be the turning point in a situation. Maintaining an aggressive attitude toward such circumstances can produce the desired end result and can even transform our life in ways we can’t imagine.
Life’s tough, for some more than others. But it’s worth drawing extra meaning out of the word “crisis.” Your crisis may even prove to be the turning point that changes everything for the better!