“Monday 5 Things” ….. Testing, One, Two …..
February 24, 2025 by D. Paul Graham
The Serenbe Maze in the Chathoochee Hills, outside of Atlanta. Photo: D. Paul Graham / imageGRAHAM, llc
I spent a lot of time this week thinking about how I’ve been tested in life. Some tests I’ve proudly passed, and others, well let’s just say I’ve failed spectacularly. Life is full of tests. Some are pop quizzes, others feel like finals, and a few are the kind where you didn’t even know you had a test until you entered the room and someone hands you the exam. Life tests can be messy. They don’t come with multiple-choice answers or neat little boxes to check. In some cases, you don’t even have time to study up. Most of life’s tests don’t come with study guides, and you can’t cheat your way through them, but you can learn from them. Pass or fail, the most significant tests make you a better person. Making the most of tests in life is to just keep showing up, keep learning, and keep pushing forward. The real measure of how well you’ve handled a test is personal growth, resilience, and the wisdom you gain along the way. That’s how you pass. This morning’s M5T considers ways that life puts us to the test and ways to pass them.
1. TIME: THE TEST OF PRIORITIES. Time is life’s most precious resource, and the way you spend it determines everything. The challenge isn’t about how much time you have. Time is the great equalizer. Everybody gets the same 24 hours in a day, yet somehow, some people seem to accomplish more before breakfast than others do all week. The test is how you choose to use time. This test shows up in big and small ways. It’s in the daily struggle between productivity and procrastination. It’s about prioritizing the things that really matter to you. Are you wasting time on things or people that drain you? It’s in the long-term question of whether you’re spending years chasing the right goals. It’s in the painful realization that you might have wasted too much time on things that didn’t really matter. To pass the test of your priorities, audit your time like you would a budget. Take a hard and honest look at how you are spending your time. Investing in long-term values of relationships, skills, and personal growth will yield the highest return on time spent. Stop saying, ‘I don’t have time’. Instead, say, ‘it’s not a priority’ and see how that fits. If that makes you uncomfortable, it may be a sign you need to shift your focus. Remember, time is the one thing you can never get back. Spend it wisely. Time will always challenge you to prioritize.
2. RELATIONSHIPS: THE TEST OF COMMITMENT. Whether romantic, family, friendships, or business, relationships can provide some of the biggest tests in life. The people in our lives can be a blessing, a lesson, or occasionally a cautionary tale. Relationships require effort, understanding, and patience. The test isn’t just about having relationships, but about fostering and upholding them. How do you treat people when they have nothing to offer you? How do you handle conflict? Do you show up when it’s inconvenient? The relationships that matter most in our life require effort, and the test is whether you're willing to put in the effort. Fail this one too often, and you’ll find yourself surrounded by acquaintances instead of true connections. The strength of a relationship isn’t measured in the good times but in how it weathers the hard ones. Tests of commitment often reveal what you value, how much you’re willing to give, and whether you’re able to set healthy boundaries. Not all relationships are meant to last forever, and sometimes passing the test means knowing when to let go. Passing tests of commitment means showing up and being present physically, emotionally, and mentally. Listen more than you speak. Understand that conflict is normal, but how you handle it matters. Know the difference between fighting for a relationship and fighting in a relationship. Recognize when a relationship is no longer serving you and be willing to walk away when necessary. The best of your relationships will always require effort.
3. FAITH: THE TEST OF BELIEF. Faith isn’t just about religion. Faith is the assurance of things hoped for through the conviction of things that you can’t see. Simply put, the biblical definition of faith is trusting in something you cannot explicitly prove. It’s about belief in something greater than yourself. It’s belief in yourself, in your dreams, in something bigger than your current circumstances. Tests of faith often come when things aren’t going as planned, when the path forward is unclear, or when you’ve been knocked down one too many times, yet you find a way to get back up on your feet. It’s easy to have faith when things are going well. But what happens when you face failure? When doors close? When you’ve put in the work, and the results just aren’t there yet? That’s when faith is really tested. Do you keep pushing forward, or do you let doubt take over? Can you trust the process even when you can’t see the finish line? Do you know what you deeply and profoundly believe to be the truth? Do you truly believe in what you say you do? Do you stick to your principles when no one is watching? Do you hold onto hope when things get tough? Tests of faith aren’t about having all the answers. It’s about trusting that, even in uncertainty, there’s a way forward. Passing tests of faith means developing an unshakable belief in yourself, what you stand for, and what you believe to be truth, even when no one else does. Surround yourself with people who lift you up and remind you why you started down the path of your goals and dreams. When things get tough, ask yourself ‘what if this challenge is part of the process, not the end of it?’ Realize that setbacks may actually be setting the stage for something better, perhaps even more than you originally envisioned. Tests of faith will always ask you to trust.
4. PATIENCE: THE TEST OF ENDURANCE. Patience is one of life’s hardest tests because it often feels like nothing is happening. You’ve put in the work, you’re doing all the right things, but the results aren’t coming fast enough. We live in a world that glorifies instant gratification of overnight success stories, viral fame, and two-day shipping. But real success, real growth, and real happiness take time. The test of patience asks, ‘can you keep going even when you don’t see immediate results?’ Do you give up too soon? Do you get frustrated and change direction before the real payoff happens? Tests of endurance sneak up on you. Everything in life takes longer than you think it should; success, healing, growth, even getting through rush hour traffic. Patience isn’t just about waiting. It’s about how you wait. Are you bitter, anxious, and restless? Life has shown me, even when I haven’t liked it, that the most worthwhile things in life don’t happen overnight, and this test is about whether you can endure the slow climb instead of looking for shortcuts. Passing this test is about focusing and trusting that the process is just as important as the outcome, allowing yourself to improve along the way, and staying committed. It’s about developing a long-term mindset and recognizing that good things, actually the best things in your life, take time. Passing tests of endurance is about discovering ways to enjoy the wait instead of just enduring it. Patience will always test your endurance.
5. REEVALUATE: THE TEST OF GROWTH. Every so often, life presents you with a different and profound kind of test. The test of whether you’re willing to change. This is the moment when you need to step back and ask, ‘is this still working for me?’ Maybe a relationship isn’t what you thought it was. Maybe your priorities have shifted. Perhaps the path you started on isn’t the one you want anymore. Maybe the thing you once believed in no longer serves you. Perhaps you’ve recognized errors in your thinking and trust. Tests of reevaluation challenge you to discover if you’re open to growth or are you stubbornly clinging to what no longer fits. It’s easy, perhaps comfortable is the better word, to keep doing what you’ve always done, but real growth comes when you’re willing to pivot. This test isn’t about failure. It’s about recognizing that change is a necessary part of life. This test isn’t about what life throws at you. It’s about how you respond. Are you learning from the other tests in your life? Are you adjusting your course when things aren’t working? The ability to reevaluate is what separates those who can be brutally honest with themselves and grow from those who just go through the motions. Passing tests of growth require regularly checking in with yourself. Are you happy? Fulfilled? Growing? Be willing to walk away from things that no longer serve you. It’s about understanding that changing direction isn’t quitting. It’s about you evolving, growing, and maturing. Tests of growth lead you to accepting that life is fluid, and what worked yesterday may not work tomorrow. Reevaluation will always push you to grow.
Here's to a week of tests and how you can best handle them, shaping you into someone stronger, wiser, and more resilient, all as you keep moving forward.
For over 13 years, D. Paul Graham has published “Monday 5 Things” ™, also known to readers as M5T™. He continues to seek out tests in life.
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