When Life Throws You A Curveball: How to Navigate the ‘Suddenlys’
One night, my car got broken into. It was the middle of the night when my neighbor knocked on the door to tell me my car was ransacked, doors wide open in the driveway. From that moment on, my night, and the days that followed, involved police reports, sniffer dogs, fingerprint dusting, missing items, and trips to the station to photograph my property.
None of it was expected. It came out of nowhere and, just like that, it was a thing. It was a “suddenly.”
In the grand scheme of things, it was a minor incident—no lasting damage to the car, not much worth stealing inside, and they caught the guys who did it (props to Queensland Police!).
But not all “suddenlys” wrap up so neatly. Some of them leave a lasting impact—on your time, your emotions, your finances, your health. They’re the kind of suddenlys that linger, disrupt, and sometimes, even derail.
We’ve all been there. Life is moving along smoothly when suddenly…
…your computer crashes, and that critical piece of work is gone.
…a driver cuts you off, and your car is totaled.
…the doctor orders tests, and the results aren’t good.
…a secret comes out, and everything changes.
…a relationship ends, and you never saw it coming.
…your company restructures, and your team is laid off.
And suddenly, your day, your week, your month, your year—sometimes even your life—looks completely different than you expected.
It’s happened to me. It’s probably happened to you. And here’s the thing: it will happen again.
That’s the nature of suddenlys. No insurance policy, life plan, or savings account can completely shield us from the possibility of a suddenly turning our world upside down.
So, what do we do with that? How do we navigate the reality that, no matter how carefully we plan, we can’t control every variable?
Three Common Responses to Suddenlys
When faced with the unpredictability of life, we often respond in one of three ways:
Fear
It’s easy to look at life’s unpredictability and let fear creep in. And often, it’s not just fear for ourselves—it’s fear for our loved ones. But here’s the thing about fear: it accomplishes nothing and costs us everything. It drains our emotional and mental energy and gives nothing in return. Fear can hold us back from experiences, risks, and relationships that could add incredible richness to our lives. Fear is a liar and a thief, and it has zero power to prevent the suddenlys of life.
Foolishness
Another response is to throw caution to the wind. If suddenlys are inevitable, why bother with planning or precaution? Foolishness says, “Life happens, so I might as well just live for the moment!”
But foolishness ignores the wisdom of good financial planning, insurance policies, healthy living, and strong community—things that help create margin and resilience in our lives. These are the very things that can help us navigate the fallout when a suddenly hits.
Faith
The most life-giving response to the reality of suddenlys is faith.
By faith, I mean having an anchor—something bigger than yourself and your circumstances. A source of meaning, hope, and strength that goes beyond what you can muster on your own.
For me, that anchor is faith in God. In the face of the biggest, most disruptive suddenlys of my life, it’s been my faith that made all the difference in how I navigated what I couldn’t control.
For others, that anchor might be a cause, like Gandhi or Nelson Mandela’s fight for justice. It might be a value, a principle like freedom, or a belief in a process like science or reason. Whatever it is, when we have faith in something or someone that doesn’t change, we’re better equipped to face the changes brought by the suddenlys of life.
Navigating the Suddenlys
We live in a world where suddenlys can and do happen. While we may not be able to control that, we can be intentional about how we think about them and what we hold onto during them.
Suddenlys will come. The question is, how will you respond?