prosperity - the Law of Attraction

The worst thing in your life may contain
seeds of the best.  When you can see
crisis as an opportunity, your life becomes
not easier, but more satisfying.

Joe Kogel

A note:  There seem to be two major ways of looking at crisis:  there are those who see it as an opportunity, and those who see it as a devastating setback in their lives.  And of course, the severity of the occurrence has much to do with how we see it:  losing our jobs can't be on the same level as losing a spouse or losing a child.

     
The healthy life is hardly one marked by an absence of crises.  In fact, an individual's psychological health is distinguished by how early he or she can meet crisis.

M. Scott Peck
The Different Drum
  
Any disaster you can survive is an improvement in your character, your stature, and your life.

Joseph Campbell
   
I have always disliked the idea that we are being “tested” by God when something awful happens to us.  Bad things happen, and none of us are exempt from the possibility that they will come to us as well.  I have pondered a different possibility inherent in crisis that in no way changes the fact that it is a genuine disaster:  perhaps the events that devastate us carry within them seeds of spiritual “initiation” into a level of knowing we would not otherwise achieve.

Sallirae Henderson
   
The Chinese use two brush strokes to write the word "crisis."  One brush stroke stands for danger; the other for opportunity.  In a crisis, be aware of the danger--but recognize the opportunity.

John F. Kennedy
    

A time of crisis is not just a time of anxiety and worry.  It gives
a chance, an opportunity, to choose well or to choose badly.

Desmond Tutu
Believe

   

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The first question to be answered by any individual
or any social group facing a hazardous situation,
is whether the crisis is to be met as a challenge to
strength or as an occasion for despair.

Harry Emerson Fosdick

    

I was starting to see that what looks like garbage from one angle might be
art from another.  Maybe it did take a crisis to get to know yourself; maybe
you needed to get whacked hard by life before you understood what
you wanted out of it.

Jodi Picoult
Handle With Care

    

I finally figured out that not every crisis can be managed.  As much
as we want to keep ourselves safe, we can't protect ourselves from
everything.  If we want to embrace life, we also have to embrace chaos.

Susan Elizabeth Phillips
Breathing Room

   
The crisis of yesterday is the joke of tomorrow.

H.G. Wells
   

No one wishes for crisis, but when crises come, they can call forth our best
impulses, those of compassion, courage, creativity, and community.  And if
there are crimes and evils hidden in the dark places of our society and the
darker places of our consciousnesses, all the better they come to the surface
to be seen, understood, confronted, and healed.  If our generation is called
to bear a burden of that healing, it is a powerful calling
and honor and one within our capability.

David Spangler

   

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The crisis, as well as the opportunity, of our time is to surrender our
ego and conditioned fear mechanisms to the primary torsion energy of
unconditional love that is seeking to evolve us and is calling us as a species home.

Sol Luckman
    

Calmness comes from within.  It is the peace and restfulness of
the depths of our nature.  The fury of storm and of wind agitate
only the surface of the sea; they penetrate only two or three
hundred feet; below that is the calm, unruffled deep.  To be ready
for the great crises of life we must learn serenity in our daily living.
Calmness is the crown of self-control.

William Jordan

   

Crises bring out the best in the best of us, and the worst in the worst of us.

unattributed

  

Seeds of faith are always within us; sometimes it takes
a crisis to nourish and encourage their growth.

Susan L. Taylor

   

Conflict builds character.  Crisis defines it.

Steven V. Thulon

      

Most of life's battles are fought inside ourselves, and our
greatest periods of growth usually come during crises.

Robert Scheid

    

    
The strong person meets his or her crisis with the most practical
tools at hand.  They may not be the best tools but they are available,
which is all-important.  Such a person would rather use them,
such as they are, than do nothing.

Raymond Clapper
    

Faced with crisis, the person of character falls back on him- or
herself.  This person imposes his or her own stamp of action,
takes responsibility for it, makes it his or her own.

Charles DeGaulle

    

In moments of crisis, the initiative passes to those who are best prepared.

Morton C. Blackwell

   

    
Any idiot can face a crisis; it is this day-to-day living that wears you out.

Anton Chekhov
   

Close scrutiny will show that most ''crisis situations'' are
opportunities to either advance, or stay where you are.

Maxwell Maltz

   

Stand up to crises.  Don't let them throw you!  Fight to stay calm. . . even
surmount the crisis completely and turn it into an opportunity.  Refuse to
renounce your self-image.  No matter what happens, you must keep your
good opinion of yourself.  No matter what happens, you must hold your
past successes in your imagination, ready for showing in the motion picture
screen of your mind.  No matter what happens, no matter what you lose, no
matter what failures you must endure, you must keep faith in yourself.
Then you can stand up to crises, with calm and courage, refusing to buckle;
then you will not fall through the floor.  You will be able to support yourself.

Maxwell Maltz

   
   
We are not imprisoned by habit.  Great changes in us can be wrought
by crisis--once that crisis can be recognized and understood.

Norman Cousins
   

Sooner or later comes a crisis in our affairs, and how we meet
it determines our future happiness and success.  Since the
beginning of time, every form of life has been
called upon to meet such crisis.

Robert Collier

   

           
   

Yes, life can be mysterious and confusing--but there's much of life that's actually rather dependable and reliable.  Some principles apply to life in so many different contexts that they can truly be called universal--and learning what they are and how to approach them and use them can teach us some of the most important lessons that we've ever learned.
My doctorate is in Teaching and Learning.  I use it a lot when I teach at school, but I also do my best to apply what I've learned to the life I'm living, and to observe how others live their lives.  What makes them happy or unhappy, stressed or peaceful, selfish or generous, compassionate or arrogant?  In this book, I've done my best to pass on to you what I've learned from people in my life, writers whose works I've read, and stories that I've heard.  Perhaps these principles can be a positive part of your life, too!
Universal Principles of Living Life Fully.  Awareness of these principles can explain a lot and take much of the frustration out of the lives we lead.