Strong characters are brought out by change of situation, and gentle ones by permanence.

Character needs the right conditions to show itself, and the conditions differ by person. Upheaval draws out the ones who need something to push against; they become clear and useful exactly when the ground moves. Others only unfold when nothing is moving, when the same room and the same people repeat long enough for them to settle into their real nature. Neither kind is stronger; they are simply legible in different weather.

Ask which one you are before you judge yourself by a stretch that did not suit you. If steadiness is where you come alive, stop chasing disruption to prove something, and arrange more repetition on purpose.