Up until

“I was fine up until …”

Isn’t this often the case?

We have skills. Knowledge. Patience. Judgement. Perspective.

All in different capacities and all at various levels.

And we’re good.

Until we’re not.

Because some situations stretch beyond our internal resources.

Perhaps it’s a game and we end up losing.

Or an area of study and we get lost.

Or a challenging interaction and we lose our temper.

Or a new question and we don’t know the answer.

Those “up until” moments are what challenge us the most. They’re the points where we get to exercise our composure and resilience. They’re tests — big and small — that remind us: we have limits.

And yet.

We always get to follow “up until” with our version of “and then …”