The 6 C’s in the Big C of a Crisis

A crisis is designed to trigger change. Change can be a daunting prospect. It can leave me hanging in mid-air, especially if it takes my by surprise. Fear of losing control of the process of change is natural. It can mean losing my freedom of choice, but there’s an upside to change. The outcome of a crisis can be positive.

A crisis is not gentle. Too often, a crisis generates massive action that can bully me into change, but in the end, it’s usually change for the better.

1. A crisis forces me to work out what’s really important in my life.
2. It makes me aware of my priorities.
3. A crisis asks me to reflect on the choices I‘ve made in the past and the consequences of those choices now.
4. It forces me to be brave and find solutions and make decisions I may not have dared to make prior to the crisis. A crisis makes me more creative.
5. It helps me to recognise that some things that I believe, and a lot of the things that I have, and many of the things that I do are not important.
6. It prompts me to reorganise, tidy up and declutter my life.
7. A crisis helps me to appreciate others, when previously I may have taken them for granted.
8. A crisis forces me to be less proud, more humble and best of all, gracious.
9. So a crisis delivers grace and healing into my life.
10. And at the end of it all, a crisis is good for my conscience.

A crisis can be overwhelming and some of the big ones have overhauled my entire life too often to count. A crisis is medicinal for me. It has triggered growth in my relationship with my body, soul and spirit. It has triggered growth in my relationship with others and in their relationship to me.

The 6 C’s of Crisis: Change, Control, Choice, Consequences Creativity and Conscience. Don’t wait until the problem blows up. Image by Benno Poeder

I’m realistic enough to know that it’s not possible to avoid the inevitable crisis, but these days, I try not to wait for a crisis to bully me into reviewing my priorities.

Why wait for a crisis to push me into gaining these benefits, when I can choose freedom now, and take action by figuring out what’s really important to me today?