If there’s one thing I’ve learned in life so far, it’s that quite often things don’t work out as planned. We can do all this preparation, have the best intentions, get ready, and then things don’t go our way. Whether it’s in your personal life with a dating relationship, in your professional life with an unexpected job change, or in your personal financial life with unexpected expenses – life is hard to predict!

There’s a quote I heard once around “hoping for the best and planning for the worst” that definitely resonates with me. It’s good to make and have plans and goals, but it’s also important not to be too set in your ways so that if and when something throws you off track that you can’t get back. The way I look at it is like driving a car – you’ve got a destination in mind and you’re heading towards it. Detours or traffic may pop up, but you’re still in your car driving and you’re still going to make it to your destination. Had you just been parked in the car at your house, you would certainly not make it! Progress is everything!

How To React When Bad Things Happen To You

Life will never unfold as intended or expected, and often times it won’t be pretty. Life will throw you curveballs and it’s important to learn to react. It’s important to learn to assess the situation (after you’ve had time to react), and then reflect on it. Maybe it won’t be so bad after all, maybe you can learn from this, maybe the bad situation is a blessing in disguise?

For example, what if every day you go to work, you’re miserable? What if you find a better job as a result? All of a sudden, being laid off doesn’t seem so bad, after all. Actually, it looks pretty good. The same goes for injury. When somebody hurts you, it can seem like a negative thing. But, as Shea & Shea point out, it can turn into a positive. Financially, you can often find yourself much better off because of the harm you’ve experienced. 

When bad things happen, most people get into a rut, endlessly regretting events in their minds. However, a trained person looks at what seems like a negative situation and turns it into a positive. 

For instance, your business partner betrayed you by embezzling money in the company, and you lost out. Okay, it might seem unequivocally bad, but you’ve learned something – to vet people before you allow them into your inner financial circle. Plus, you now have extra motivation now to succeed. Nobody is going to determine whether your business thrives or not except you. 

Gifts In Disguise

Even in my own life I’ve had to learn to react and go with the flow many times. Looking back, life had a funny way of working it out and I took each failure or bad situation and turned it into a positive. Learning I wouldn’t be promoted at my first job led me to a new exciting and better paying opportunity at a new company. Having my Jeep stolen got me out of a vehicle that was costing me more and more in repairs. Being in a bad housing situation got us into a new neighborhood that we absolutely love. It’s important to learn to bounce back and move forward!

When you boil it down, very few things that happen in life are permanently or irredeemably bad, especially when they concern your finances. You can lose all your money several times over and still make millions throughout your life if you want. People have done it before. And you can do it again!

Bad things won’t always turn out good, some things in life really suck. However, bad things happen to all of us, so learning how to get passed them will allow you to lead a better life! The old adage rings true of life giving you lemons and you turning it into lemonade!

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