Image: Flickr/Kari Bluff

“We would never learn to be brave and patient if there were only joy in the world.” (Helen Keller)

There are those rare, seemingly perfect days. Everything goes right. The socks come out of the dryer in pairs. You get every green light on the way to work. Your children ask to go to bed early. The IRS tells you they owe you money!

It can happen! But it’s those other days that help you become a better you.

It’s precisely because of difficult days that you learn what it really takes to be a grown up. Sure, that’s hard to keep in mind when you’re smack dab in the middle of a full blown toddler tantrum at the mall, but — for your sake and hers — you must chill. If you can see that the tantrums, and the red lights, and the audits all serve a purpose that isn’t simply to annoy you…then you can find joy in the midst of the chaos.

And then you’ll find yourself better equipped to lead others through those trying times as well.