When 'Lightning' Strikes -- 3 Stunning Lessons In Success

When I was badly burned, they told me I had a 7 percent to 10 percent chance of regaining full range of motion, which to me meant I had a 100 percent chance. 

- Jeff Kuhn, Author: Blue Sky Lightning

Have you ever had one of those moments when you felt like you just could not go on?

Most of us have.

More than once.

I have.

Sometimes my struggle has been caused by trauma. Something outside of myself that felt like my world was shattering and that I'd never be the same.

Other times, it's actually been fuelled by passion. Working towards something so 'big', so important, so engaging that I wasn't paying attention to my own needs. Times when I reached a point of vital exhaustion without heeding warning.

Think about those times for you... Those moments when you, or someone close to you, went head first into such a situation.

Jeff Kuhn shares his incredible journey of some of the 'worst' that life can throw at us.

His book, Blue Sky Lightning, is like a bright beacon of hope, a lighthouse, in the blackest, inkiest darkness.

I hope you'll read it for yourself. It's one of my 2018 favourites.

There are so many lessons of encouragement, but I want to share the following three that I found most poignant -- and that I think all of us need to remember for 'success'. 

When 'lightning' strikes -- 3 stunning lessons in success.

Success Lesson #1. Beautiful people don't just happen.

 “The most beautiful people we have known are those who have known defeat, known suffering, known struggle, known loss, and have found their way out of the depths. These persons have an appreciation, a sensitivity, and an understanding of life that fills them with compassion, gentleness, and a deep loving concern. Beautiful people do not just happen.” 
― Elisabeth Kübler-Ross 

Some people are just beautiful.

They radiate kindness. They challenge you to be your best. In fact, they energize your potential, causing you to be 'more' by their very presence.

They encourage. Meant literally, it's "to give courage to." Not fearless; brave.

Such beauty is timeless. It has a certain grace. Even after they're gone, the image of them may fade in our minds, but their impact remains strong in our hearts.

If we're lucky, we've been influenced by at least a handful of them in our journeys.

Better yet, if we're super lucky, we've become one of them. Someone who makes a difference.

Those who've overcome great odds or obstacles 'get it'.

There's a deep acknowledgment of the grace and 'luck' to have been through whatever it is that got you to here, and to tap into that as a wellspring for others. It's like this:

Click to this image.

Jeff's book is full of people with that kind of beauty and dignity. And... a small handful who lack that -- as a stark contrast and reminder to 'choose' who and what we want to become in the face of deep challenge!

Success Lesson #2. Choose hope.

I'm a big 'fan' of hope. I've shared some of my own thoughts and perspectives on it in a post I wrote a while ago. I cycle back to it quite often -- whenever I need a boost: "How to Re-energize Hope."

I think Christopher Reeve expressed it best:

Hope isn't something we have. It's not something we 'give', either. Rather, it is an attitude and an expression of life that we choose.

If you want to really explore the sheer grit and power of that choice-making, read Jeff's book.

Success Lesson #3. Becoming resilient.

If there's one word to describe Jeff's book, it's 'resilience.'

It's a kind of 'no-matter-what' optimism in the face of whatever else life or others tell you about what is -- and what is not -- possible.

It's not some giddy, Pollyanna kind of fluff. Rather, it's the stuff of real optimists. People who choose to find purpose in problems. Who make things happen. Who decide what their impact is going to be on others. It's also deciding the impact that others and the world will have on us. 

It's empowering.

It's the kind of choice expressed in the opening quote. It reflects one of many times when Jeff was told what his odds were. Yet he found within himself the strength to see, to become and to 'live' in possibility, not problems.

The 'audacity' behind that quote resonates with me. I've been told "You can't [-fill in the blank-]" or "you won't be able to [-fill in the blank, again-]" in issues of health, work, impact, etc. Difference-making of all sorts. And, I've had the joy of working with so many go-getters -- people who've successfully faced down all manner of odds against them.

What have I learned?

When you don't buy in to "impossible" you have the chance to surprise your critics, even if that's you!^{click to tweet}

We need to be audacious. Not an 'in-your-face' kind of rude. Instead, it's the life-inspiring kind of boldness that springs when we set out to make a difference that matters. To set some pretty "wild expectations." To lead by example.

It's the third big lesson and takeaway for me from Jeff's book. In short,

This is one of those stories that makes you stop in your tracks. Be thankful. More determined. Resilient. Inspired. 

Enjoy this Success Story feature on SuccessCENTER: Jeff Kuhn: Success Against All Odds; Strength in Action