“You never know what worse luck your bad luck has saved you from.” – Cormac McCarthy
At first glance, misfortune feels like a roadblock. The car that won’t start, the job you didn’t get, the relationship that didn’t last—each one seems like the universe is working against you. But often, what feels like bad luck in the moment turns out to be a redirection, saving us from something far worse down the line.
Take Nikola Tesla, for example. Throughout his life, he endured countless setbacks. His ideas were dismissed, his funding was pulled, and he often lived in poverty despite being one of the greatest inventors of all time. Many would have seen only failure in his circumstances. But what if those very disappointments shielded him from worse outcomes? What if the struggles that forced him into solitude also created the space for his most groundbreaking discoveries?
McCarthy’s words remind us that “bad luck” is not always a punishment—it can be a quiet form of protection. The missed flight that saved you from being in an accident. The rejection that pushed you to a path better suited for you. The lost opportunity that made room for something greater.
It all comes down to perspective. Instead of asking, “Why me?” when things go wrong, we can shift the question to, “What did this protect me from? What might this be preparing me for?” That small shift takes us out of victimhood and into growth.
The truth is, we rarely see the bigger picture in real time. Only in hindsight do we recognize that what felt like the worst day was actually the turning point toward something better.
So the next time life throws you a curveball, pause before labeling it as bad luck. Consider that it may be the very thing saving you, guiding you, and shaping you into who you’re meant to become.
TheSpiritualExplorer 