"Botanists say that trees need the powerful March winds to flex
their trunks and main branches, so the sap is drawn up to
nourish the budding leaves. Perhaps we need the gales of life
in the same way, though we dislike enduring them."
- Jane Truax
I've heard it said that we wouldn't be able to appreciate the "ups" in our lives if we didn't also have the "downs." Without the contrast, we'd come to take the good things in our lives for granted.
Some people believe that adversity in our lives tempers us, and makes us stronger. Surely we've seen that philosophy at work in how we collectively respond to threat to our country. Individually, each brush with danger or trouble teaches us how to react in the future, and helps us to make wiser choices in our behavior.
I've always thought that children needed "walls" or parameters in their lives to work against. As they climb one wall, it's a parent's responsibility to create another. And so they should continue as children move through their teens, conquering one wall of responsibility to get to the freedom or priviledge on the other side.
As adults, we hope that our lives will be trouble-free, that our path will be smooth, but the world doesn't operate that way. The best we can hope for is to learn from our experiences, to take them in stride, and keep moving forward. With any luck, our "March winds" will blow through, leaving us wiser but undamaged.