Every challenge is an opportunity for me to grow and improve.

Growth from a hard stretch tends to be invisible while it's happening. During the week the boiler broke and the deadline moved, nobody feels they are improving. They feel they are coping badly and hoping no one notices.

The improvement shows up later, in a smaller reaction to a similar mess. You notice you didn't panic this time, or panicked for an hour instead of three days.

Some challenges hand the lesson over quickly. Others hold it for years and deliver it in a form you never expected — a limit you now respect, a person you'd otherwise never have called.