Adversity Is a Terrible Thing to Waste

lost two jobs in one day. Then my car broke down.I was in my early twenties, broke, angry, embarrassed, and walking five miles through the Texas heat toward an apartment I wasn't sure I could afford anymore.Somewhere during that walk, the way I looked at life began to change.This episode isn't about pretending everything happens for a reason—or repeating the cliché that whatever doesn't kill you makes you stronger. Sometimes terrible things happen. Sometimes we create our own problems. And sometimes both happen on the same day.It's about what happens after adversity arrives.I share that five-mile walk, my family's immigration story, my dad's cancer, lessons from working as a paramedic, and why I've become more careful about what we call “resilience.”Maybe adversity itself isn't the gift.Maybe the question is what we choose to carry forward from it.Because once you've already paid for the lesson, it would be a terrible thing to leave it behind.This is BE ALL IN.