Opportunity in Crisis

Sometimes back my observant eye while driving along Thika road got me thinking. China man and his modus operandi while constructing the super highway sometimes brought unprecedented problems. What with his not so clear and misplaced signs; like a sign that is meant to inform you to turn left somewhere and it is placed right at the spot where you are supposed to be turning. If you are not that careful or you are the type that would drive under the influence of anti-Mututho laws substances, you’d easily land into a ditch. Like someday I found some very young men whose vehicle had just landed into a ditch on an early freezing morning, I think the fellows were returning from a night of merry making. They were so drunk that they decided to sleep some inside the car, others on top of the car as opposed to struggling to get the car out of the ditch.

Some other day, the china man dug a very big trench somewhere around Kahawa Wendani. The trench covered a long distance oblivious of the places where pedestrian were using to cross from the other side. You could imagine the chaos especially affecting ladies who wanted to cross from one side to the other. Some very ingenuous and quick thinking men realized there was an opportunity to make a few bucks. As opposed to building a temporary bridge, the men would get inside the trench and assist ladies to cross; of course for a small fee of ten shillings. They actually spotted an opportunity in the crisis to make a few coins. This went on for days till China man built the temporary bridge.

In life we sometimes are faced with crisis and we hardly spot opportunities within the crisis. Most people must have really complained about this China man, after all it is all human to think along those lines, yet a more positive person could spot an opportunity.

So what's different for such a person?

Millionaires and billionaires are made in times of crisis; read when economies are on their low. Stock masters will tell you that you make most when you buy at the market’s lowest, literally. Isn't it obvious??

I have heard of many self-made millionaires who bought houses during recession, improves and sells at a small profit, and then repeats the cycle. When the masses are running from the markets, investors run in the opposite direction. It is like the famous Salmon, that swims against the river current to breed in the mountains where water is purest. 

A lot of it comes down to attitude and beliefs. Yes, touchy feely stuff. But I do believe that how we perceive our world impacts our experience. Those who dare to swim against the current get the most rewards. Find a successful person and you'll often meet a positive, focused individual who is all about viewing the glass as half full or even overflowing, who sees opportunity in each and every situation, no matter how dark it may seem. They shine a light into the darkness; to them their world is bright, really bright.

What if adopting a positive viewpoint changes our crisis into opportunity?

In Chinese symbols, crisis shares a common symbol with opportunity. The symbol for 'crisis' contains two words, danger and opportunity. Taken together - the symbols mean 'opportunity in a time of danger'. Imagine that! Inherent in every crisis is the aspect of opportunity.

So what determines the outcome?

When a force intervenes to cause a 'turn for the better', the crisis transforms into an opportunity. We can be the force that causes that turn for the better. We can power the swing from crisis to opportunity.

How about our attitude! When we look at life with a positive attitude - we're more likely to see new opportunities, to think in out-of-the-box ways, to create differently, to believe in our abilities to power a positive outcome. Those are the key ingredients for success - in business or our personal lives.

Are we the positive force that powers opportunity in crisis, or are we part of the crisis?