Here they are again, those lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer as sung by Nat King Cole in the 60s. “Those days of soda and pretzels and beer.” How innocent are those easy days!

This summer finds many people struggling to find any sense of ease or innocence. There is fear in the land and a disquiet that erodes whatever laid back sense summer can provide.

In talking with people over the past several months, I have been struck by a growing sense of fatalism, that whatever is bad now is going to get worse and that the future will remain bleak for generations.

Such is the state of things when darkness falls. And yet, nighttime is always dispelled by the morning sun.

Think for a moment about your favorite novel. Is every chapter filled with sweetness and light? Is blissful happiness a steady state? Of course not. We would be bored to tears if we picked up a book like that. We enjoy reading great fiction because the characters always struggle with something profound. In some chapters, we believe that all may be lost and indeed, for those characters that take their own lives, it is. Most, however, do not. Most struggle through dark days of poverty or illness, broken relationships, lost loves, violence, betrayal and despair.

In these chapters, we get to know the true nature of the characters. We see how they think, how they view themselves in relation to the rest of the world and how they frame their problems. We see, too, how this framing influences the choices they make. Sometimes characters make situations more difficult than they need to be because of their depressed spirit or their over-reaction or dramatization of what is happening to them. At some point, however, things begin to change. Something happens—a conversation, an accident, a chance meeting—that causes them to see a way out of their predicament.

Your life is like this! Dark chapters challenge your life’s view and sometimes your belief in yourself. Prolonged hardship can feel like a mockery of everything you hold to be true and good. Today’s economic challenges are causing some people to wonder why they should continue to play by the rules when they seem to be moving backwards instead of forward.

When you are worried, fearful or in pain, your view of life gets distorted. You see dark intent in things that happen and you begin to distrust everyone. You may want to be left alone. You may wonder why you should continue on.

It may seem odd to tell you that these times are good for you and that adversity is your friend. Without struggle, we never learn how deep our personal well is or how much untapped capacity we possess. We don’t get a sense of our greater inner strength when life is running smoothly on auto-pilot.

It is true that we must first survive trouble in order to learn from it! Many are currently in this difficult survival phase, living one day at a time, trimming away excess, re-ordering priorities and simplifying.

This is important work that prompts us to reflect.

Did you ever fall off your bike as a kid? Skin your knee? Feel as though you might not survive the tumble? Everyone has some version of this scary and painful experience. And yet, you learned that knees heal and steering skills improve. Ultimately, you may remember the amazing new places you saw as you ventured further and further on your bike.

This ability to fall and get back up is what provides hope during times of true distress. When you make a mistake that feels grave—a financial decision, job choice or relationship miscue—know that you have the ability to pick yourself up, dust yourself off and continue on, determined to do better. Adversity has taught you this.

Be patient through the dark chapters. Trust your inner strength. Believe in a brighter tomorrow. Then get busy doing what you can do today to write that next chapter.

Susan Marshall is an author and speaker. Her work is dedicated to building strong leaders at all levels.

You can reach her at execadvise@mac.com