Serendipity

You’re either resilient or you break under the pressure. That’s how I’ve come to understand life. So much of life is spent learning to walk the path we’re given, and along that path come obstacles that test our mental fortitude. Are we brave enough to face them?

Strength is only part of the puzzle — bravery is what opens the door to possibility. Strength matters only if you’re ready to walk through that door. Bravery is the force that gets you to the threshold; strength is what carries you through it.

Throughout my life, bravery has been tested over and over — and each time, I’ve managed to prevail. I’ve stood before the door of possibility and dared to explore what lay beyond. But what no one tells you is that resilience comes with a price.

We celebrate resilience as if it’s a virtue without consequence. But at what point does resilience become a burden?

There’s a famous saying: “Pick your battles carefully.” That rings true. The cost of resilience is the slow erosion of it. The more battles you face, the heavier the toll. Yes, resilience reveals the truths hidden in the shadows — but not all truths are comforting. Some truths expose the very limits of your strength.

As I’ve grown more resilient, I’ve broken down doors that once seemed impossible to open. Every time I pushed through, I gained confidence. In my late teens and early 20s, I thrived on that momentum — each broken barrier made me feel stronger. But for every door I conquered, a bigger and heavier one waited behind it.

Eventually, that confidence wore thin. I began to rely not on bravery or strength, but on the sheer fact that I had been resilient enough to get this far. That’s when the weight of resilience began to show itself.

Now, I stand before the heaviest door yet. My dreams are within reach — tantalizingly close. But now… can I make it? Or has resilience taken me as far as it can?