Sometimes Life Throws You Curve Balls
Image: Waldo Jaquith
Imagine that you are up to bat in the last inning of the last game of the World Series. You step up to the plate, lift up your bat, and look up at the pitcher with a “give me your best shot” glare. You are not scared. The entire series so far, the pitcher has been sending fastballs right down the middle of the plate. You have been knocking them out of the park! This time, you have the chance for a grand slam and you are sure you are going to get it. The pitcher winds up and sends the ball speeding towards you. You swing with all the force in your body and the ball connects with. . . air. What!?!?!? You cannot believe it. After all the fast balls you had been getting, the pitcher had thrown a curve ball. The game has just changed. What are you going to do now?
Sometimes life is like a baseball game. For a while, life may send you good things, or fast balls. You get used to these good things and start planning for the future assuming these good things will keep coming. Just when you least expect it, however, life may throw you a curve ball. An unforeseen situation, often a negative one, happens and changes the “game”. At that point, you must decide upon a new game plan or you just might lose the game.
I recently had a couple of “curve balls” thrown my way. Last month, I had a miscarriage. My husband and I had been so excited for the new addition we were going to have to our family. We told everyone we knew and started planning for our future baby. When we least expected it, however, our dreams were torn away from us and we had to adapt to our new circumstances. A few weeks later, we discovered that we needed quite a bit of dental work done and we had no dental insurance. Before we knew it, we were scrambling for a way to pay for the dental work as well as all of our normal bills. By the end of the month, we were wondering if life would ever start throwing us fast balls again.
Luckily for us, we were at least somewhat prepared for these curve balls. We had an emergency fund that we were able to use to cover the unforeseen medical and dental expenses. We also had health insurance. Without these preparations, we would never have been able to pay for these bills. Although these situations were still extremely difficult for us, I truly feel that the emotional recovery has even been somewhat better because we were prepared financially and did not have to deal with additional stress due to finances.
So, how can you prepare for and deal with life’s curve balls? Here are a few suggestions:
- Always, always, always have an emergency fund. An emergency fund is vital in preparing for life’s curve balls. Whether you lose your job, need medical work, or total your car, an emergency fund can cover these unforeseen expenses. It is reassuring to know that you will survive if the unexpected happens. For more information about emergency funds, check out my article about setting up an emergency fund.
- Make sure you are insured. Although insurance premiums may seem high, they are nowhere near as high as the expenses you will face in the case of a serious emergency. Because of this, it is extremely important that you are always insured. Some of the most important kinds of insurance to have include medical insurance, life insurance, home owner’s insurance, and car insurance. Some other kinds of insurance that may also be beneficial include dental insurance, vision insurance, renter’s insurance, disability insurance, etc. Decide which kinds of insurance will be important for your family. You will be glad you have them when you need them.
- Remember that YOU are in control of your actions. When curve balls are thrown your way, it is easy to feel that you are not in control of your life. When I had my miscarriage, for example, I felt completely helpless and like I had no control over anything. While there are, indeed, many things in life that cannot be controlled, remember that you are ALWAYS in control of your actions. You can CHOOSE had to respond to any situation. You can change your game plan when curve balls come your way and face them in the future with confidence. You can choose to make the most of any situation.
So, next time life throws you a curve ball, don’t let it defeat you! You are strong and you can be prepared for such a situation. You can change your game plan and on that next pitch you can smack that curve ball out of the park! You really can achieve that grand slam.
How have you dealt with life’s curve balls? How have you prepared for them and grown from them? We would love to hear from you!
If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!
If you enjoyed this post, please consider to leave a comment or subscribe to the feed and get future articles delivered to your feed reader.
My condolences to you and your husband, I hope you will be successful in the near future. Curve balls are never any fun, they usually end up hitting me without having any protection but I’ve made it through enough to know things will look up soon.
Thank you so much. We think things are already starting to look up, but who knows how long that will last. We are trying to focus on the positive things in life right now and remember that we really do have a very blessed life.
Nice blog and sound advice. I’m sorry about your curve balls. We’re doing our year end financial planning review and this economy has thrown us a curve ball. We are learning all we can about becoming and staying debt-free. There’s a great book that really enlightened us called “The Debt-Free Millionaire” by Anthony Manganiello. It’s full of really sound financial advice.