Coal under pressure mostly just becomes dust. It’s the right pressure over the right time that counts.

Hardship does not automatically improve anyone. Most pressure just wears things down, and the story that difficulty reliably produces something valuable is unkind to everyone it did not work out for. What actually matters is whether the load is survivable and whether there is enough time underneath it.

If you are carrying a lot right now, the useful question is not how to endure more. It is whether this amount is survivable for this long, and what would reduce it even slightly. Ask for the extension. Put one thing down. There is no prize for taking the maximum load.