Hard times, overcome

What was one of your hardest seasons of life?
How did you get through it?

This week I mentioned to a friend that my husband and I are celebrating 32 years of marriage; he didn’t miss a beat before responding with this doozy of a question. On the face of it, it was a difficult one to consider-- but to his point, whether in marriage or elsewhere, we've all navigated rough times. None of us have avoided hard seasons of life; but if we’re here today, it’s because we found a way through. And that's something worth naming, and celebrating.

My answer to his question was Year 25 of our Marriage; we got through it with a wonderful therapist who introduced us to Emotionally Focused Therapy. (I highly recommend this approach even though, in our experience, the feelings wheel is enough to bring a saint to their knees!) And I'll admit that even still, exploring this question stirred up a knot in my stomach before giving way to a deep sense of triumph that we did the hard work and made it through.

So how might you answer this question? It's not a light and easy one, for sure, but I’d be honored to hear your story of adversity and overcoming.