Built to Last: Finding Balance in the Grit of Life

From Meadville steel to daily struggles, life’s strength is found in both the grind and the grace.

A pair of CHANNELLOCK® pliers sits in my hand—fiercely made in Meadville, PA, U.S.A. They’ve fixed, pried, twisted, and endured just about everything. These tools weren’t built to be flashy. They were built to last. Built to carry both the weight of hard jobs and the satisfaction of getting them done.

And maybe that’s a lot like life.

Struggle Jennings sings:
"I've been a sinner / And I've been a saint / I've dropped the ball / And I've saved the day / I've been the problem / And I've been the fix / I've been the savior / And a son of a bitch."

That’s balance. That’s honesty. That’s the day-to-day grind that all of us walk.

Life has a way of pulling us between extremes—good and bad, success and failure, pride and humility. And in the blur of the day-to-day, it’s easy to forget that both sides shape us. Just like those CHANNELLOCK pliers, our strength doesn’t come from shining perfection. It comes from the grit. From the wear. From the marks of real use in real life.

So whether you’re the problem today or the fix, the saint or the sinner, remember: both belong in the toolbox of your life. And both make you stronger than you know.