January 8

It’s easy to believe that the way things are now is the way they will be forever. If you’re going through an especially difficult time, it can be hard to see the end of it. If you’re in a season in which everything is going well, it can feel like you’re riding an unending wave.

The one certainty in life and work is its uncertainty. No matter how bad things are right now, things are going to change. No matter how great things are, you are certain to face some difficulty at some point.

It’s not our circumstances that define us but our responses to them. Resilient people are able to stand in the face of both good and bad circumstances and recognize that the situation doesn’t matter nearly as much as what the situation develops inside you. Both success and failure offer the chance to develop character and persistence, which will reap dividends when you are put to the test in the future.

As you consider the present state of your life and work, is there any place where you are slipping into a belief that circumstances are fixed? And what character traits are being developed in you by what you’re experiencing?

Everything is temporary. Things will change. How will you?

Question

What character traits are being developed—or do you hope will be developed—in you through what you’re experiencing right now?