I feel it has made me a more tolerant and patient person, not things that I would necessarily naturally associate with myself (although others seem to for some reason!). It is impossible to fight everything all the time, so learning acceptance and just letting some things be are important qualities to have in order to be able to prioritise the more important things that you do have to contend with. It brings a nice perspective to day to day nonsense that is for sure, although at times I find it has made me militant about dismissing what I see as trivial but is actually more importsnt to others. I am not going to go into detail here but it really does take you on a bit of a journey where it forces you to look at yourself and recognise how you do (or do not) deal with things, how you react to situations, how you manage various relationships - at the heart of all of this is what is really important to you.
It also is a time when you learn a lot about your family and friends and the different qualities they have. For instance, some people are predictably loyal and solid as a rock when it comes to anything you need, other people while less proactive have other strengths and perhaps the ability to just listen or know when to say the right thing or offer good advice. Others, it had to be said, tend to disappear a bit or pretend that everything is just normal - even this has its advantages at times as it is tiring repeating yourself all of the time!
The cliche about learning more in times of adversity is certainly true, and I think it is important to realise that from every experience your learn an awful lot. Most importantly it makes you appreciate the good things you do have. Even standing on top of the Malvern Hills (see pic) cannot bring that sense of perspective!
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