How Crisis Can Prepare us for Later Events in Life

In this week's class we have been learning a lot about crisis within families and how we can cope with these additional stresses. As we were talking about this, the idea that struck me the most was how certain crises (especially if it is the first time that something of this nature has occurred) can help prepare us to cope and deal with future crises of a similar type. I believe that this is true; I believe that experiencing different events and crises can help prepare us for future stresses in life.
When I was in high school, one of my grandmothers and a very close friend of mine passed away around the same time. This was the first time that I had ever really had anyone that was close to me pass away, and it was devastating to me. I remember crying for days and just feeling alone; I kept to myself for the most part and didn't really talk to anyone because I didn't know how to deal with the pain of losing someone that I loved so much. Last year, my other grandmother passed away. This too was a very difficult event to go through, especially since I was very close to her and loved her dearly. But because of my previous experience, I knew that it was okay for me to cry and feel sad about my grandmother passing away; I also knew that I needed my family and friends during this time and I needed to talk with them instead of shutting them out in order to make it through this crisis. Because I had previously experienced the death of some individuals who I was close to, I knew what helped me to cope and what didn't, and therefore I was able to deal with the most recent passing away of my other grandmother more effectively and in a way that was healthier for me.
Another personal example of mine that demonstrates this idea that experiences can prepare us for future stresses and crises was when I was in middle school. My best friend at the time was going to be moving away, and I felt like there was little hope that I would ever see her again. This made it somewhat difficult for me to make friends after this crisis occurred because I felt like they would all end up leaving. But I later realized that I could go and visit her and she could come visit me (with the help of our parents of course since we were only in middle school). Then during high school when a family that I was really close to moved away, I still felt sad that they were leaving and that I wouldn't get to see them as often, but I knew that I would be able to go and visit them sometime and that we would still remain good friends no matter what. The first crisis of my best friend moving away definitely helped prepare me for the future moving away of the family that I was very close to. Even though both events were hard, I knew after the second moving, which involved the family, that everything was going to be okay and that I could deal with this stress effectively.
I strongly believe that our experiences in this life, especially our first experiences with new events or crises, will help prepare us for future events or crises that may come in our life. These events teach us valuable lessons in regards to coping and handling these stresses, which makes our outcomes more positive and beneficial in the end.