Leadership and Luck: Recognizing Everyday Miracles

Dec 11

Hand drawn graphic of a car passing a semi truck with a ladder in the road

There is a lot to be grateful for that is impossible to attribute to any other human being. As a result, we tend to acknowledge and thank God, a Higher Power or perhaps we may attribute our good fortune to serendipity. For example, think of the gift of being alive today ! Life truly is a miracle that is difficult to fully understand.

A recent experience made me realize there are a lot of miracles that we can’t attribute to other people—and it’s important to recognize these everyday miracles, lest you take them for granted.

A couple weeks ago we were away with friends. Half way through our 3 hour drive back to our hotel,

"Steve, do you want to drive for a bit ?"

"Sure thing."

We’re on a double-lane, divided highway the whole way and there’s not much traffic. Maybe 15 minutes into my drive, we’re going 110-120 km/h (65-70 mph) and I pull over to pass an 18-wheeler. We’re side-by-side with the semi and to my surprise, I’m almost paralyzed by what I see 50 feet in front of us.

There’s a ladder sprawled across our lane.

And while it isn’t moving, it’s coming at us faster than we're passing the truck. I don’t know what I was more afraid of—the ladder or the transport truck.

It's reaction by instinct—I centre the vehicle over the ladder and hold the steering wheel as tight as possible. I don’t know if this is the right thing to do but there's no time to evaluate options.

Kaa-bam !

The sudden noise scared the heck out of our wives in the back seat.

5 seconds pass. I’m thinking to myself, "I can’t believe it. We’re ok. The tires seem fine. It doesn’t feel like we've had any damage." I look in the rearview mirror.

"We just hit a 10 foot ladder. I don’t know where the rest of the ladder is, but there’s a 3 foot piece of it on the side of the road behind us."

"Whew. Let’s pull over and see what kind of damage we have to deal with."

There’s no damage—not a scratch !

We’re back on the road and spend the next hour talking about how grateful we are for what happened. Surely, someone was looking out for us.

This experience reminded me that our days are filled with moments that are under the direction of a guardian angel or some greater force or maybe it is just luck. What you believe is your decision but what you can’t deny is, "you are not in control". Therefore, we ought to give thanks for all the good fortune we’ve been blessed with.

We’ll skip the reminder of all the benefits of being grateful, so here’s the thing—by appreciating everyday miracles (and not taking them for granted), the bottom line is you strengthen your gratitude superpower.

What is an everyday miracle that comes to mind for you ? Please share it in the comments.