One recurring theme in many of my professional coaching sessions is the question: “When is it ever going to be enough?”

You know what I mean? It’s everything—from the latest instances of gun violence to climate change challenges, to the difficulties with the divisive political rhetoric in the country. People keep asking me: *When is it ever enough? When do we cross the line? When do people change their minds collectively?*

What Malcolm Gladwell called *the tipping point*—that moment when enough of something happens for change to finally unfold—remains elusive.

A friend of mine from the recovery community, Bill, often said, “Let’s be honest, Ron, many of us simply can’t see the light until we’ve been burned by the heat of the light.” There’s a lot of truth in that. In recovery, and in other areas of life, we talk about hitting bottom, or rock bottom.

What’s fascinating—and tragic—about this concept is how deeply it reflects the psychology of individuals and groups alike. Until the pain, difficulty, or suffering becomes unbearable, we often cannot let go of the status quo.

People ask me, “Wasn’t it enough to see 170 people shot?” Apparently not—because it hasn’t shifted the paradigm.

One of the most sobering lessons I’ve learned from the recovery world is this: it may take far more suffering than we can imagine before we finally reach that tipping point. It’s tragic, awful, and deeply unfortunate.

But until that point is reached, all we can do is keep trying, keep pushing, and keep showing up. praying if you’re a person of faith, keep doing what we can to change the course. Knowing that there’s always going to be a tipping point.