Life can throw curveballs. Disappointments can destroy the strongest resolve, even the most focused among us shaken by a series of bad luck and failure. Like fire, heartache can spread.

Yet too often it is easy (and in the most difficult darkness, completely forgivable) to forget the positive, creative power of sadness and grief.

Instead of trying to distinguish or contain this anguish, use it. Find the cause worth caring about. Solve impossible problems. Turn fury and rage into calculable action and make your tears count for something.