Life is sometimes full of twists and turns:

• You are up – than you are down.
• You are in love – you are out of love.
• You are Healthy – than you are ill.
• You are Employed – than, unemployed

Other times, life is great, you are moving toward your dreams, goals and your destination is just around the corner and boom – roadblock. All of a sudden, you hit a brick wall. What do you do when you find yourself on this roller coaster ride of ups and downs? What do you do when disappointment hits? How do you handle detours, opposition and roadblocks?

Quite often, when life serves us an unexpected blow or a pill too hard to swallow, we quickly get discouraged and think it’s the end of the road. Sometimes we blame others or simply just give up.

A few years ago a young violinist by the name of Lukas Kmit was playing at a Jewish Orthodox synagogue in Prseov, Slovakia. While he was performing, the cell phone of one of the members of the audience began to ring. remarkably he kept his cool and didn’t allow the distraction to keep him from completing his concert.

What he did next became a YouTube sensation. He began to play the very tone that was interrupting his performance. The crowd went crazy and his story and talent reached many more than he’d imagined.

• He took it as it came
• He kept his cool… maintaining a positive attitude
• He used it to his advantage
• He did a little improvisation
• He stayed focused on his goal – to entertain people

As a result, he captured his audience attention, remained in the driver’s seat, display a sense of creativity and won the day with lots of applause from those listening to him.

Maybe there is something we can learn from this. Something we can take away today to help us handle life when it throws at us distractions, disappointments, roadblocks and brick walls. Here are a few:

1. This could simply be a blessing in disguise… so be positive in your attitude.
2. People and unplanned events will try to take you off your game… so stay focus.
3. Unless you have a compelling reason to change course… stick to your plans and goals.
4. Use the good the bad and the ugly, everything that may come your way, use them to your advantage.
5. Make room for error… anticipate obstacles, prepare for the worst and look for the way out of every situation.
6. Make room for some divine intervention, miracle…
7. Get up and try again. Don’t stop after your first attempt . Don’t give up!
8. Don’t ever forget that timing is your very best friend…. it produces character.
9. Seek counsel, get a mentor, talk with people who have dealt with similar problems.
10. Never forget to learn from every experience… they are given to equip you for the future – both for yourself and for others.