In The Hardest Seasons

Times are particularly difficult for many people right now. Maybe they’re particularly difficult for you, financially or otherwise.

Whether you just got smacked with higher health insurance premiums (mine went up by 20% and that’s a plan without subsidies) or continue to get sticker shock at the grocery store checkout, life is feeling expensive right now. Add in the continual pain in the daily news and you have a recipe for dark times.

It’s more important than ever to remember how often light comes out of darkness, how often good grows out of hardship, and how crucible seasons eventually produce renewal.

A crucible event, per Oxford, is “a situation of severe trial… leading to the creation of something new.” In Doris Kearns Goodwin’s Leadership: In Turbulent Times, she describes the path of four famed U.S. presidents, ultimately culminating in the legacy they left us. The crux of these stories was essentially that some of our country’s most transformational leaders only rose to the occasion after serious “crucible” periods.

The author quite persuasively tied these presidents’ success in leadership to the skills and traits they acquired and honed during incredibly trying times.

Abraham Lincoln experienced tremendous failure in the state legislature of Illinois, failing to carry out the promises he made. As a result, he suffered public blame, a deep depression, suicidal thoughts, and had to start all over with nothing (no money and negative career points).

Teddy Roosevelt, then a New York state legislator, experienced terrible grief after the death of his beloved wife at the birth of their daughter, which was then followed by the death of his mother under the same roof just 12 hours later.

Franklin Roosevelt, after the onset of polio, fought a grueling physical fight with his body to recover as much control and movement as possible in a time where severe physical disability was even more difficult to live with than it is today.

Each of these men would ultimately reach, of course, the U.S. presidency and have historic impact on the country. Indeed, we only know their names from the achievements attached to their names in the history books.

But their roads to those accomplishments was no picnic, and the roads were long.

It’s a reminder that becoming our best selves takes time, and often that time brings with it hard knocks, suffering, and loss.

While this knowledge doesn’t lessen the pain and exhaustion that life’s punches deal, it does help put them in perspective.

Why not have to overcome whatever hardship you’re facing today? Why not have to carry onward despite the loss?

Because you’re far from alone. And your story is still unfinished.

While carrying the burden of your particular challenges today, keep the bright spots in view (and even those just out of view). Focus on becoming better for it and keeping going.

It may be years or decades in the future when things do get better, but when you stop questioning the fairness of what you’re experiencing and look towards what it can teach you, it changes everything.