Editor’s note: When the Business Record marked the 20th anniversary of Women of Influence in 2019, we asked members of the early classes, including 2002 honoree Teree Caldwell-Johnson, to write a letter with the advice they would give to themselves at the age of 20.

The letters were compiled into a special publication, Letters from Women of Influence. We are sharing Caldwell-Johnson’s contribution to this publication below to honor the lessons she had for her younger self and in hopes that her words and advice resonate.

My Dear Teree,

So you’ve fallen and can’t get up. Is it the job or that relationship that left you with a broken heart … again? What about that so-called BFF who is dragging you down ― pushing you to the brink.

You know, we gain strength in the adversities we face, those everyday challenges called our valleys. And as bad as things may seem right now, Teree, understand that life is a journey full of peaks and valleys. Your mountaintop moments are coming and will be revealed when you understand the value in the valley.

Experience tells me that valleys open your eyes to things you have difficulty facing or accepting. Valleys challenge your fears and test your resolve. They also give you valuable insights into yourself and others.

Valleys come in all shapes and sizes and remind you of the things you “shoulda, coulda, woulda” done. My valleys have included a person I loved who simply could not get it together; a very public job separation that left me bruised but not broken; and the deaths of both parents and my two older siblings, leaving me the only remaining member of my nuclear family.  

Teree, your valleys may include depression, confusion or loneliness, an attitude, an obsession or all of the above. No matter what your valleys, how defeated they make you feel or how low they may take you, there is purpose in the valley.

Recently someone asked me, “Why does God allow bad things to happen to good people?” My response was simple: God hasn’t promised to shield you from everything. But God did promise to be with you through it all, life’s highs and lows, indeed the mountaintops and valleys.

Ah, yes ― life’s mountaintops and valleys, those times referred to as the good, the bad and the ugly. Teree, your mountaintop experiences will be amazing, and while they will allow you to shine and give you great pleasure and fulfillment, it is the valleys that will bring the greatest meaning and significance to your life. For it is in the valleys where you will be nurtured and developed.

The trials, tests and adversities experienced during these times will mature and teach you, mold and shape you. Yes, Teree, there is meaning and resolve in the valley.   

So when life surprises you, shocks you, challenges you, when you fall and think you can’t get up, reflect on these five things:

1.  It is your valleys that make your mountaintop experiences that much sweeter.
2.  Your mountaintops inspire you, but it is your valleys that mature you.
3.  Your setbacks are the setup for your comeback!
4.  Life is a marathon, not a sprint. Take the long view.
5.  There is purpose, meaning, resolve and value in the valley.

Teree, life’s valleys and mountaintops are designed to help you reach your greatest potential.

Reflect on them, and as you write your life’s story, use them, never ever letting someone else hold the pen. For you see, the valleys and the mountaintops are not just places to go to be by yourself, they are places where you go to be with yourself.

Enjoy the ride, Teree. YOUR BEST is yet to come!