In life, we are quick to complain about things that happen to us that we perceive as negative. If you get fired from your job it may seem like the world is going to end. If you are forced to move city it may seem like you will never see your friends again. If you get sick and can’t go on a trip it may seem like a missed opportunity. However, the truth is that we never know what life has in store and a bad experience could be setting you up for the greatest path in the world. Perhaps you lost your job so that you would find a new vocation that would make you incredibly happy. Perhaps you moved city and found the love of your life. Perhaps you missed a trip and were, therefore, able to be there for your wife when she needed you most. A story recently went viral that proves we can never know what life has in store and that even when it looks like something bad has happened and luck is against us, our fortunes may be about to change.
Josua Hutagalung is a coffin maker in Kolang, Northern Sumatra, Indonesia. He has from a place that is so small, with only 19,000 people in the entire area that very little happens and he lives a quiet life. In fact, if you google Kolang you will only find articles relating to the story I am about to tell you, nothing else. One day Josua was sitting at home when he heard a loud crash and some strange sounds outside.
When Josua looked outside he saw a large hole in his patio roof and an even bigger hole in his garden. As he approached the hole he saw that it almost 6 inches deep into the ground. Looking into the hole he saw what appeared to be a meteorite. The meteorite had come from the sky, broke through his roof, and ended up in his garden. If you were having a bad day and this happened you would be forgiven for really feeling that life was against you. Of all the places in the world for a meteorite to land, it landed in your back yard and managed to damage your roof in the process. Yet Josua didn’t realize at that time just how lucky he was.
It turns out the meteorite was old, incredibly old, estimated to date back 4.5 billion years. According to experts, it is made of incredibly rare material too. This means that the meteorite was worth a bit of money. Each gram was estimated to be worth $857. Luckily for Josua this turned out to be a pretty heavy meteorite weighing in at 4.6lbs. Our readers who are quick at math may have already worked out that this meant Josua now owned a meteor worth $1.85 million. His day was starting to look up.
Initially, Josua didn’t want to sell the rock but when the offers started to come in he couldn’t say no. He sold particles of the rock to three parties and overnight became a millionaire. It is unknown whether he will continue his trade as a coffin maker or continue his life in Kolang. What is clear is that his life will never be the same again.
Josua’s day may have started out bad and it may have appeared like it was only getting worse when a meteorite crashed from space into his yard. Yet this story perfectly shows how sometimes bad things lead to fantastic opportunities. Ignoring the fact that a meteor turned out to be good, this story shows that you can never predict what will happen in life. All you can do is try to enjoy each day.
