Here is one way to think of hardship: The end. The failure. The last hurrah. The curtain call. The finish.

Here is another way to think of hardship: As grist for the mill. A chance to learn about endurance, patience, resilience, struggle. An opportunity to prove your mettle. A way of learning about people or situations or actions or things.

As Marcus put it,

“The impediment to action advances action. What stands in the way becomes the way.”

When faced with an obstacle, think of it in the latter terms. See it for what it is: the way forward. The valley makes the mountain tall. The obstacle is the way.