The other morning while walking the dogs, I came across a tortoise. He was a youngish fella that I imagine, had painstakingly made his way out the forest and was heading straight for the road. Deciding this wasn't a good idea, I picked him up, turned him around and popped him back into the trees. As I was doing it, I could almost hear a bewildered tortoise voice wondering.... 'What the 'bleep' just happened?'

Isn't that soooo life? We are moseying along doing our thing, when all of a sudden, it's as if our life has been picked up, spun around, and we are left scratching our heads trying to figure out what just happened and how on earth we got here. The changeability of this extraordinary life we live is both a blessing and a curse. When bad things end, it's great. Good things ending? Not so great!

It's a mixed kettle of fish and not only hardships throw us off our stride. Sometimes even good changes, like marriage, a promotion or having a baby, can turn life upside down and it can take a while to regain our balance. But it is only when we face problems that we discover what we are truly capable of.

There are many things we wouldn't choose if we were given the choice, but unfortunately, we often aren't given any choice. No matter what changes we face, one thing to keep in mind is that human beings have the most extraordinary capacity to adapt to the most difficult of circumstances. We often say or think things like, 'If that happened to me, I couldn't cope.' And yet the people to whom really awful things happen, probably also thought that. 

So when the wheels come off, a good place to start is to take a moment to catch your breath and assess the situation. Get a sense of the new environment you are in. Sometimes the hardest thing to do is to stay still and focused in the midst of chaos, and yet a calm and peaceful mind is vital starting point.

By slowing our racing thoughts and emotions down, we create the space for our natural intelligence and creative problem solving to kick in. There are often more options than we realise and by coming up with a plan B and C and D if necessary, there's a much better chance we will find the key that unlocks the door to a whole new world!