Any Minute

Almost everything that is truly unexpected and life changing happens in a moment. It’s a point in time when there seems to be no answer to your problem, no way out of the distress and no chance to avoid the situation. It’s a moment we all have experienced – the end of the line. Yet for some reason, something changes and shifts. A chance meeting, an unpredictable outcome, a call from a friend – can turn a disaster into victory. Just when you thought there was no way there was some way.

Why and how do these mini-miracles happen? Why is it that when we least expect it or maybe even deserve it, there seems to be a divine intervention, almost like the hand of God reached in and changed the outcome.

A very close friend of mine some years ago joined and also invested in a new company. She was an adamant analyst and did her due diligence well. She checked the company stats, competitive landscape and the references of the owners. She joined the firm for stock and a little salary and a chance at millions. She left a safe, albeit humdrum, position in a Fortune 500 company for a chance at greatness. She got her chance and then some.

The plan for the new firm was to introduce its flagship product just prior to the Christmas selling season. It was a high-tech gadget that would monitor your email as well as your vital signs, and keep copious records in a journal like way that could be downloaded into your PC or MAC. It was the 21st century personal secretary in an easy to use, hand held – change the world, kind of device. The product was being distributed through major retailers literally around the world and all of the research indicated it would sell out fast.

About one month prior to the product shipping a problem developed. One of the memory circuits was failing and caused erroneous data to be transmitted. It was akin to the old game of telephone where one would whisper a message and pass it on to the next person and of course at the end the final message it had little resemblance to the original. The launce was in jeopardy and while the distributors were asked to wait, the precious shelf space where this product would be displayed for the Christmas crowd was in danger of being lost. This would mean a disaster for the company and its shareholders. The ad campaign was on hold and precious media advantages were being lost. My friend was in a state of distress. Her ticket to a new life was being challenged by a simple, inexpensive memory chip; the only chance the company had was to replace the chips with new ones and still make the shipping deadline.

I know you probably think that a new replacement chip was found and the devices were all updated and the company made the deadline and the product was a huge success. Sorry, no. The company missed the deadline, the product never got to market and the dream of high earnings and early retirement were never realized. My friend was devastated. It was over.

I tell you this story because even though it did not turn out as expected, the experience provided additional outcomes. My friend was hired by a firm that needed her expertise in launching new products. The investors sold the shell of the company to a foreign manufacturer. The patents that made the product work were sold to a consortium for a lot of cash. My friend made a lot of money, found a new cause to join and the product although never brought to market has created a wave of enthusiasm for the science and potential.

For whatever you may be hoping for now. For whatever dream you may hold, remember that it doesn’t always go according to plan and that any minute, things can change. Maybe not your way, but God’s way and possibly the best way you could ever imagine. So don’t give up on your dream and it won’t give up on you.