The hardest periods look different in reverse.
We see what they changed in us.
What we now know we can handle.
What we no longer need to carry.
From here we call them formative.
At the time, we never saw it this way.
We were getting through the day.
What worries us this week is still unfolding.
Uncertainty alone can be enough to frighten us.
That fear cannot tell us what comes next.
Things may never take that turn.
Even if they do, this might become formative too.
