Learning the Hard Way...A Blessings In Adversity Teaching Point

- By Frank F. Lunn

A few months back, I was in a big hurry to get somewhere and running late as usual, so I was driving faster than I normally do and truthfully, much faster than I should have been. Then on a two-lane highway, I got behind a vehicle moving at a snails pace.  OK, he was going the speed limit, but it annoyed me to no end because I could not pass him.  For about five miles I got aggravated and upset.  Each time I tried to pass, I was stymied by other cars or poor visibility with a curving road. FINALLY, after what seemed like an eternity, this moving speed bump turned and just as I was about to accelerate to double my speed, I heard the explosion of my radar detector at the maximum level.  I had just run directly into a police speed trap.  My heart sank as I saw the officer with the radar gun pointing directly at me.  I could only think of one word…BUSTED!

In that heartsick moment, I realized I was about to get a very expensive lesson that I deserved.  I looked down at my speedometer to survey the damage and assess which bracket of penalty I would find myself owing while I waited for the piercing red lights to pop on behind me. Astonishingly, they never came on.  Then it hit me; I was actually going the speed limit.  I breathed an amazing sigh of relief.  My body was releasing massive endorphins.  My breathing was quick and shallow as though I just escaped death.

Certainly a little melodramatic, but this was my momentary response.  As I moved a mile down the road, at legal speed, the lateness to my destination seemed less important.  Right then I realized that the slow driver I was silently cursing under my breath a minute back for impeding my progress was actually the reason I did not get a ticket and massive fine along with being even more late with the embarrassment of the roadside stop frequented by many people I know.  Smiling to myself in the rearview mirror, I thought, "Lunn, you just experienced a Blessings in Adversity teaching point!"

Blessings in Adversity is applied practical optimism when you realize that any situation can provide value when you look for it with the proper lens of perspective.  We are all in a hurry and our time perspective is so short.  Look back into your own life and you will undoubtedly see areas where you wanted something badly and it did not happen or you were disappointed in some way.  Later, with the perspective of time, you can see that ultimately it was a real blessing you were initially disappointed in.

Frank F. Lunn is an expert in leadership, marketing and small business entrepreneurship. Frank is the author of Stack the Logs! - Building a Success Framework to Reach Your Dreams and Carpe Aqualis! "Seize the Wave" - Seven Essential Surfing Skills to Revolutionize Your Business and Personal Life. Please visit KahunaPower.com to find additional motivating articles and success building tips by Frank. 

Note: This article is an excerpt from Frank F. Lunn’s latest e-book Blessings In Adversity - Convert Challenges, Difficulties and Hardships Into Blessings and New Opportunities inspired by his own experiences and written in tribute to Maya Pettit and Nick Rudolph. Checkout BlessingsInAdversity.com for your own FREE copy of the Blessings In Adversity e-book!

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