Finding the Blessings in Misfortune

​It was a perfect day.

There was 7 inches of fresh snow, blue skies, snowboarding above treeline, on an empty mountain with Rocky Mountain powder all to ourselves. I was in a state of flow and bliss.

Then I hit a rock, going really fast.

It was perfectly hidden by a thin snow. I was snowboarding about 30 miles per hour. The first rock snagged me and smashed to the ground. My right knee was punched into a second set of rocks. I fractured my patella, medical speak for I broke my kneecap: not good.

An event that lasted perhaps three seconds changed my life. There was extreme pain for days or weeks to come. I spent my $7,000.00 medical deductible in three seconds. I was sidelined from my favorite sports for 90 days. I couldn't drive, walk, or even carry a cup of coffee for 6 weeks. And did I mention extreme pain?

As I was lying in the hospital bed, awaiting my first surgery since I was five years old, my hand picked up my phone. Out of nowhere, a list was written of 15 potential blessings that come out of this unexpected misfortune. I didn't write the list, it came to me, I was merely the typist.

I could have spiraled into anger, depression or fear, or a pity party. But what good would that do? Why not find out what it means to surrender? Perhaps I would discover something good - or even amazing - in a seemingly terrible incident?

In one way or another, all of the 15 blessings are coming true, or will do so. I won't list them all, but I will focus on one. 

Breaking my kneecap - and being partially disabled for 3 months - changed the focus of my life. For years, I had been living for my hobbies. As result result of a three second incident, I was deprived of my hobbies for three months. For weeks unending, all I could do was lie on a couch. 

I was guided to focus on work, and specifically my purpose work, which includes this blog. You are reading this blog post, and this website is live, because I had that accident. Had I not had that accident, I would be mountain biking or snowboarding instead of writing this.

This isn't new thinking. Many people, famous or otherwise, have been able to find a blessing in misfortune. Stephen Hawking is considered perhaps the greatest physicist of his time. Hawking started becoming paralyzed at an early age. In his later years, the only muscle he could move was in one cheek, which used to trigger a voice synthesis machine.

But Hawking came to see his disability as a blessing. He reasoned that if wasn't disabled, he would've been compelled to lecture or be an administrator. Because of his disability, he could focus on his  purpose and passion: research. If Hawking can find a blessing in near total paralysis, I can too with a broken kneecap, as can you, with any perceived misfortune.

The Japanese Word for crisis is two characters: dangerous + opportunity.  Are you experiencing a misfortune or crisis? What is your dangerous opportunity? How might you harness this incident or situation, to transform your life for the better?