With crisis comes opportunity
Crisis: "An emotionally significant event or radical change of status in a person's life … the outcome of which will make a decisive difference for better or worse," according to Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary.
That's not a bad definition, but I prefer another. I have been told that in Chinese there are two characters that together represent the word "crisis." Taken separately, they read "dangerous opportunity."
Dangerous - certainly we can all relate to that. Any crisis - physical, emotional, relational, spiritual - is first experienced as a threat.
When you think about it, even a relatively simple change is usually a bit disorienting, somewhat uncomfortable. And when it comes to the magnitude of change that falls under the heading of "crisis," our entire life can be thrown into disarray. It's like the difference between a minor tremor and a full-blown earthquake.
In crisis we start to suspect that our whole world is tumbling down around us. Even if our crisis is at first confined to one particular area of our life, the shock waves soon spread, shaking our sense of stability in other areas as well.
A job crisis, for example, easily and almost inevitably becomes an emotional crisis as we experience feelings such as fear, frustration and hopelessness. Our family soon feels the effects as well, as we bring our crisis home with us. We can start to experience real physical problems in response to the stress we are under. We may even begin to question our spiritual foundation and the sense of meaning and purpose in our life.
Now, where in the midst of such a sense of overwhelming danger can we possibly find our second dynamic of crisis - opportunity?
Ironically, the danger in our crisis often blinds us to the opportunity. Yet both our definitions suggest there is always potential for "the better'' in whatever circumstances we encounter.
Popular literature is filled with stories of people who surmounted the crisis of physical illness, natural disaster, job loss, divorce, death of a loved one. The theme common to all these stories is the ability to reach beyond the danger and seize whatever opportunity is offered.
We are often profoundly moved by such stories. Their theme seems to touch us deep inside. It must be true. We yearn to believe we are also capable of such a response to crisis.
And we are. Our belief is the sole resource necessary to realize the opportunities presented in the crises in our lives. If we believe such opportunity is there to grasp, and if we believe we can indeed take hold and give it life, then we will.
It all sounds so simple. I also know from my own experience just how difficult it is to do. Yet as I come face to face with the crises in my life, I have come to believe it is the only response that offers any hope. Dangerous opportunity? Despite the danger, I must believe in the opportunity.
• Dr. Ken Potts is on the staff of Samaritan Counseling Center in Naperville and Downers Grove. He is the author of "Mix Don't Blend, A Guide to Dating, Engagement and Remarriage With Children."