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This too shall pass.

It was such a good reminder in an email from a friend. “It came to pass,” she wrote. “It did not come to stay.”

Exactly right! Whatever “it” is in our lives right now, one thing we can be sure of is that it came to pass. And our experience tells us it definitely didn’t come to stay.

It’s so easy to get into a spiral of doom when things go badly in our personal or professional lives. I don’t know about you, but I find myself imagining that life will remain exactly as it is today—forever.

Maybe you lost a job you loved and thought, “I’ll never find another position as perfect for me.” “I’m going to miss those wonderful colleagues I won’t see anymore.” Or even, “I’ll never work again.” (Yes, I have more than a passing familiarity with unemployment.)

Or your business suffered a setback, maybe it shut down altogether. You labeled yourself a failure, and wondered if you’d ever succeed at any other venture. (Yep, I can check that box too.)

Or that perfect client decided you weren’t the perfect marketer/web designer/attorney/whatever. They went off to work with some other professional. And you were sure that was the end of your practice; you might as well close the doors. (Ditto.)

Whatever professional or personal calamity showed up in your world, it came to pass. As it turned out, it didn’t come to stay, did it?

You know I’m in the midst of challenges at home, helping my husband get through chemotherapy treatments that will last the whole summer and deal with other health issues at the same time.

Anyone who’s ever found themselves in the caregiver role can tell you how all-consuming it is. Not to mention exhausting. And occasionally frustrating. I thought I understood that from what I’ve read or what others have told me. Turns out I didn’t know the half of it!

It’s easy, in the midst of whatever we’re facing, to think it will never end. I’m grateful to Kristina Kananen for reminding me that it always does. It came to pass—it did not come to stay.

Maybe that reminder will be useful for you, too.