“Your life does not  
get better by chance.  
It gets better  
by change.”  
Jim Rohn

For a while, we might find ourselves flying on cruise control down the fast lane on the highway of life. The weather is ideal. The roadway is clear, well-paved, and safe. Traffic is manageable. We tune-in to Pandora or Spotify and listen to our favorite tunes or podcasts, confident that the road ahead will be just as smooth. We feel as though we are on top of the world. Then, without warning, we hit a pot-hole, traffic congestion, or get run off the road by an out-of-control big rig. Everything changes… in an instant.

At times, life can be difficult. We all know this. Sometimes these challenges come with some kind of warning, but not always. In some situations, we find ourselves blindsided by something about which we were unaware, for which we were totally unprepared, or, perhaps, something about which we believed there was no need to worry. To make matters worse, the difficulty is often something over which we have absolutely no control. 

When confronted by these types of events, a variety of responses are available to us. Some of these options can be quite beneficial, helping one to successfully navigate the rough waters in which they find themselves. Regrettably, other options only exacerbate the problem. A number of factors can influence how we respond and why we respond the way we do.

For those who respond in effective ways, recovery can happen quickly. People, for the most part, are fairly resilient. Others, however, continue to spiral out of control until such time as they hit the proverbial rock bottom. Their arrival at that low point can be painful for them and for those around them. Still, there is reason for hope — which can be seen as an acronym: Having Only Positive Expectations.

Author J.K. Rowling had the experience of hitting rock bottom before going on to become one of the most prolific writers of her time. Her words can be a source of encouragement for all of us. She said, “And so rock bottom became the solid foundation on which I rebuilt my life.”

As I’ve mentioned previously, in both blog posts and in my books, a “crisis” can be viewed as a positive thing. While any crisis situation involves an element of danger, it also provides an opportunity for us to turn things around, to make the necessary changes to bring about a preferred future. More often than not, this opportunity requires some type of change on our part. We cannot count on life getting better by chance or due to some lucky break. Life gets better when we commit to positive change… and follow through with it.