[dropcap]I[/dropcap] saw a video by Oprah Winfrey, the other day, and in it she advised that when a crisis strikes, the first question we should be asking is ‘what is that crisis trying to teach us?’ Very good I thought, after all there is something to be learnt from most situations. Having said this though, I have to be honest that was not the very first question that came to me when I went to get in my car this morning and it would not open, talk less of start!!
I tried everything I could think of, and the question that was going through my head was how was I going to get to where I was going? Now Here in lies the crux of the matter, in my limited car mechanic wisdom, I believed it the problem to be the car fob, with the alarm on it. So I called a cab, and went about my business. I was then having a coffee with a friend and told her all about my problem. She offered me a lift home which I duly took, but in the meanwhile, I had posted a question on line, for which one respondent wanted £17 for an answer, the cheek of that I thought, but based on that I also found a mobile company that dealt with this type of issue. Now I could not phone them straight away as it was a premium rate number, so I thought I would wait until I got home.
Got home, and was still bemoaning the issue, complaining about the unplanned expense, when I just asked my friend to come and listen to the car, maybe I had it wrong. Well that turned out too be the $64million request. It turned out that it was not he key fob but my car battery, we jump started it. Then I had to drive around for a while in order to make sure the battery charged. Unplanned time that on another day could have been rather costly.
Having said that, even in this small inconsequential of crisis, it was upon reflection that I asked the questions and I found that yes there was a lesson to be learnt! Firstly one should not make assumptions. They can be costly if the assumptions are wrong. Secondly do not make rash decisions and also that one should persevere with your plans in as much as that is possible.
Share with me a lesson that you have learnt from a crisis?