Last night, I received a very upsetting email from an associate; health problems, work complications, career issues – all at the same time. It was a Hollywood moviescript that had come to life.

We all go through those phases. It becomes difficult to plan our lives? As the troubles pile themselves on top of each other – with you at the bottom – we struggle to gain perspective and understand what is important. What should we tackle first?

Be the problems at work or in the home, modern terminology refers to the solution as ‘time management’. Crudely speaking, this is a group of skills, which allow us to handle a combination of difficult issues at any one time. Simple enough in theory, yet for many it becomes a nightmare to put into practice.

Earlier yesterday, I heard a different take on the issue from a leading rabbi in London, Shlomo Levin. He was discussing the biblical character of Abraham. Seemingly a simple nomad, he moved his home numerous times in his 185 years. The fact is that the first forefather faced ten tests of character or trials. Each one was complex. Each needed to be resolved….without email, mobile tech, modern medicine or the UN.

Levin commented how in Hebrew the words for ‘trial’ and for ‘miracle’ have a common root or background. And this goes towards confirming the strength of Abraham’s character.

I suggest that there is a more direct and practical lesson for us today, coping with the ever increasing speeds and pressures of global technology. Whether you have a religious faith or not, the next time you face a ‘difficult patch’, look at it as a trial. As Levin observed, more often than not, whenever we are tested as individuals, we come through better prepared for the future.