FBC – 163 – A Rather Unpleasant surprise…

A Rather Unpleasant surprise.

Sometimes life kicks you in the face…and this is one of those times. However, even in the depths of despair, there is still something positive to take away. All the details and more in this episode.

So I'm here right now at the police station. And remember that I had to come back to Sri Lanka for legal reasons? Right. So I have to go and see a judge get this this idiot to pay for assaulting me.

So I talked to this guy and he basically said the whole thing will be postponed. But then when he saw my face, it was it might be postponed. And then he called the other officer, who took my deposition and all that stuff. And he started talking in their local language, which I obviously don't understand. But from what I can gather, the thing is actually postponed.

And so I came here for pretty much nothing. So I heard some words like, oh, guilty and blah, blah, blah. And I could see on the face of the other officer, who's a very friendly guy, you know. So it's the one I've been in touch with on the phone and everything.

And I could see on his face that he was saying hopefully I didn't come here for nothing. OK. So basically, the chief told me, oh, you know what? You are going to the court tomorrow and you're just going to ask what was said last time.

But I could have done that on the phone or via e-mail. Then why do I have to fly all the way here? I'm pretty sure he was explaining to the other officer. So the plan is for me to go to my hotel and wait until like tomorrow morning or something. And then I will go to see the judge or whatever.

I thought there was going to be something scheduled. But in this case, he's like, come here at 8:00 a.m. tomorrow morning and then we'll go there and we'll ask what happened. And then he explained that this case has been escalated to some higher instance, and it might take some time.

Which kind of sucks, right? Because, you know, I was in Bali and so I planned everything like going to Singapore and then flying here and all that stuff. And maybe I could have stayed home. You know, so, you know, I left on the 30^th. I'll be back on the third. So that's like four days. Five days, I think.

A Rather Unpleasant surprise.

It kind of sucks, but life sometimes will kick you in the face. Okay. So don't get mad at these people. Plus, the last thing you want to do is to get mad at the police and start insulting the legal system and everything.

So I've decided to take it with a smile and. And yeah, it's good. It's going to be a lesson. Well, in this case, I actually asked. All right. I asked several times. Are you sure it's on this date? What time is the hearing and everything? So next time I'll take more precautions. I don't know what I'll do, but I will take more precautions.

But it teaches me how, when you know, things are not going your way, if you get mad and you start complaining and all that stuff is not going to help you. Right. I'm here already. It's not like if you start moaning, then you, like, magically appear in your living room at home and stuff. No, I'm here. So I'll just have to wait for my plane. So I have a plane tomorrow night.

So I'll just wait for my plane and then I will go back home. And yeah. And also maybe it's I don't know if it's for nothing or whatever, but by you know, with me showing up there, you know, at the hearing thing. Yeah. The judge might see that I'm serious about this and I really want this stuff to move forward, you know. So it's not if I didn't show up or anything, they may have given up on the case, whatever.

So the lesson here is, you know, even when it sucks, just stay calm and look at the bright side.

Frequently Asked Questions

How should you react when life kicks you in the face unexpectedly?

When life kicks you in the face, your first job is not to fix it. It is to feel it for a short, defined window, maybe one hour or one day, then close the window. Long open emotional windows produce bad decisions. Short closed ones produce clear next steps.

What positive lesson can you extract from a sudden setback?

Every sudden setback exposes a fragility that was already there but hidden by good weather. A surprise loss reveals a missing system, a missing contract, or a missing relationship. Use the setback as a free audit of your operation. Patch the gap before the next storm tests it.

Why is the mindset you bring to a bad surprise more important than the surprise itself?

Two builders hit by the same legal or financial surprise will end up in very different places one year later, not because the event was different, but because their internal narrative was. The story you tell yourself the day it happens compounds. Choose the rebuild story early.

How do you avoid letting one unpleasant event derail an entire month?

Use the 48 hour rule. The first 48 hours after a bad surprise are for triage, calls, and damage control only. After that, return to your normal week and rebuild around the event rather than freezing because of it. The faster you move, the smaller the hit becomes.

About the Author

Martin Ebongue is the founder of martinebongue.com, an online business and lifestyle design blog focused on helping aspiring entrepreneurs build location-independent businesses. Since 2014, he has been creating and scaling online ventures across multiple niches, from digital products and affiliate marketing to SaaS and content platforms, while traveling the world. He shares the real-world strategies, tools, and systems that work, with a particular focus on AI-powered automation for solopreneurs. Follow him on YouTube, X (Twitter), and Instagram.

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