The Crisis Is the Teacher

When I was raising five children, I sometimes hit moments where I had no idea what to do. Crises would erupt—emotional meltdowns, emergencies, fights I didn’t know how to fix. I didn’t always have the answer. I didn’t have a manual. And I didn’t always have someone to turn to.

But I found something that helped me stay grounded. A small internal mantra I whispered to myself in those moments of chaos:

“Thank you, child. You are elevating my parenting skills.”

It wasn’t sarcasm. It wasn’t detachment. It was surrender in the best way.

That quiet thought—this moment is elevating my parenting skills—gave me hope. It reminded me that just because I didn’t have the answer right then didn’t mean there wasn’t one. A path forward often existed—I just couldn’t see it yet. Sometimes, the missing ingredients were simple but powerful: patience, time, self-awareness, a good night’s sleep, or a walk in the woods.

That same mantra is echoing in my mind now—not for one of my children, but for my country.

We are living through a national crisis. Our institutions are cracking. Truth is being bent and bartered. A president who should be facing consequences is instead hosting parades of corruption—and those tasked with upholding the law often retreat in silence or excuse-making. We’re watching the system buckle under its own weight.

But what if—like those hardest moments in parenting—this crisis is also a teacher?

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What If This Is a Growth Edge?

We’re exhausted. Furious. Numb.

But despair is not the end of the story—it’s the middle. The signal. The flashing light that says:

Wake up. Grow.

Trump didn’t just break laws. He broke illusions:

• That our democracy was self-correcting

• That people in power would do the right thing

• That truth alone would win the day

And once illusions are shattered, the real work begins:

Learning. Evolving. Becoming.

As a coach, I know: Growth never comes from comfort.

It comes from friction. From humility. From a willingness to feel pain without turning it into punishment.

This crisis is offering us lessons—hard ones. But necessary.

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Questions This Crisis Asks Us

• What skills is this moment trying to teach you?

• Where are you being called to show up with courage instead of despair?

• What old part of you—apathy, avoidance, silence—is ready to be left behind?

This isn’t just about Trump. Or Congress. Or one party or another.

This is about who we become—as citizens, neighbors, parents, professionals, people—when the systems around us fail.

When power dodges accountability, do we learn to speak with more clarity?

When justice is delayed, do we commit more deeply to our values?

This is your growth edge. Our growth edge.

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Thank You, Crisis.

Thank you, crisis.

You are elevating our skills as citizens.

You are testing our integrity.

You are showing us what it means to care about something bigger than ourselves.

We didn’t ask for this moment. But here it is.

Let’s not waste it.

The crisis is the teacher.

And we are still capable of learning.