Illness strikes. A loved one dies. The economy shifts. You lose your job.

Upheaval drags everyone down. A crisis wears on a person, eroding mood and destroying optimism. As you go into survival mode, it becomes harder and harder to hold onto any kind of joy at all. Instead, your days are taken up with emotions such as worry, anxiety, depression, anger, frustration, and fear.

You thought you were doing ok. You likely were. You’d faced several challenges already, and came out on top. Then it happened—a sudden upheaval. In an instant, your entire world changed, and you were called upon to react to a situation which sapped your energy, drained your resources, and left you feeling as though mentally, you’d just taken a battering.

If you’ve ever had things fall apart at work, you’re already quite familiar with upheaval at work. It happens every time you get a new boss, or they start making significant policy changes. Though let’s face it, even those small changes in the office can create tension and make it difficult to get things done.

When things go wrong at work, your first thought is going to be how you can protect your job. After all, without your career, the rest of your life can very quickly succumb to various pressures, not the least of which is financial.

When you’re in upheaval, you tend to hit survival mode pretty quickly. Your life becomes focused on just getting through the day. Beyond that? You don’t have the time or energy to care. Now more than ever, you need to take advantage of what time you have for personal growth. When we are challenged is where we rise to the occasion the best.