High school can be a painful period for young people.

It’s the first time, for many, of experiencing their entire world being torn down around them. Finding out their parents aren’t perfect, friendships that dissolve, relationships that don’t work, the stress of responsibility, money issues, future plans gone astray and just about every facet of reality they grew up with falls down.

They are then given the arduous task of having to rebuild their reality again using the lessons learned.

Then those teenagers grow up, having experienced it already, and parts of their reality will shatter again. The difference is they already had the experience the previous time and can find better ways of dealing with it. However, it’s still painful and can be turbulent while it happens.

The positive result of this process is a stronger foundation to build upon.

And the stronger the foundation, the stronger their reality becomes.

The best we can do is teach them, and ourselves, how to build a stronger foundation when the building collapses.