Hard times are an opportunity to exercise your greatest strengths, and to foster your highest self.

“Hard times build determination and inner strength. Through them we can also come to appreciate the uselessness of anger.” 

Dalai Lama

Life, and all the hardships therein, are only what we make of them.

Hard times are part of the seasons of life, be they recessions, lost loved ones, lost opportunities, sickness, or coronavirus pandemics — and that’s okay. Time and time again they come — and will come — and time and time again we are faced with an opportunity.

We’ve all seen the toilet paper pandemonium.

We’ve all heard the doom-and-gloom.

We’ve all seen the red ink and felt the contagious unease.

While none of this is the norm, it is still part of life — and is still part of the seasons and soil we are handed each passing moment, from which we must plant and nurture our hopes, our dreams, our successes, and our legacies.

Here’s how I see it: there is opportunity even in this.

No, I’m not talking about the morally bankrupt folks who hoard Lysol wipes and resell them online for insane prices. I’m talking about you and me and the one strength we can exercise no matter what:

How we respond to what happens.

So much of life is beyond our control, and this pandemic is part of it.

We don’t decide when things like this happen.

We can’t control when a new zoonotic disease will make that one-in-a-million shot and transmit from animal to human.

We certainly don’t control the economic, political, and sociological chaos that follows (although we can all play a part in the containment effort).

What we can control is ourselves.

• Our thoughts.
• Our reactions.
• Our deeds.
• Our attitudes.

It’s not easy. It’s not always fair. People lose jobs over this, lose money and opportunities, travel plans, education, sports leagues, and some lose their very lives. Nonetheless, we must respect our power to choose a higher road — to not let what happens drive us lower than it must.

Remember: how we react to bad events can sometimes do just as much damage as the event itself. As Marcus Aurelius once said, “How much more damage anger and grief do than the things that cause them.” The same can be said for panicking and living in fear.

Instead of panic, we need calm.

Instead of giving-in to fear, we need resilience.

Instead of despair, we need hope.

Epictetus, the great slave-turned-philosopher, once said that it’s not what happens, but how we react to it that matters. Events do affect us, but our reactions affect us as well, and often more than the event! Our reactions are in our power. We must remember to focus on this:

“To make the best of what is in our power, and take the rest as it occurs.” — Epictetus

So let’s make the best of this. We can.

That means not giving in to despair.

That means not giving in to fear.

That means using this difficult time to master ourselves:

• To choose calmness over panic.
• To choose kindness over selfishness.
• To choose courage over fear.
• To choose love over hate.

What’s happening in the world right now is an opportunity to become more than you were yesterday. As Ryan Holiday wrote, we can turn crisis into opportunity. Even while things go wrong, you can use it as exercise for overcoming hardship, for practicing mindfulness and stress-reduction, for helping others, and for growing despite all the shit that’s thrown at you.

Yes, it sucks.

Yes, it’s painful.

Yes, it’s serious. As a paramedic, I know.

Yes, it’s hard to find toilet paper at Costco now.

Yes, spring travel plans are taking a beating (I know mine are, but thankfully airlines are being flexible).

But our negative reactions can be as deleterious as what’s happening, when we could be reacting in ways that bring us together, make us stronger, and leave us better in the long run.

This is temporary. All things come . . . to pass. It may not be tomorrow, or next month, but this will pass, and when it does, how will that time find you?

• What sort of person will emerge from this?
• Will it find you stronger?
• Will it find you smarter?
• Will it find you living better?
• Will it find you with a new outlook on life and on yourself?
• Will it find you ready to live life with not only passion, but with the respect and courage it deserves?

That’s under your control no matter what. It’s up to you what you make of this — for better or for worse.

So today, tomorrow, and after this is all over, exercise your power to choose how you respond to life’s hardships — and the opportunity to react in a way that makes you better than you were before. You have a hero within you, and in times like these you can make it shine forth.

So be kind to others.

Help those who need it.

Buy groceries for the elderly who can’t risk going out themselves.

Buy only what you need.

If you’re stuck in self-isolation, find ways to use it for personal growth.

Take nothing for granted.

Cherish those you love.

Cherish your unique, beautiful life.

Be grateful for the small things.

No matter what happens, choose to respond in a way that grows you rather than belittles you. Face this season of adversity with courage.