Character Building Experiences

When I was a kid and "bad" things happened to me my Mom would always say that it was a character building experience. This summer my daughter worked in an un-airconditioned warehouse, driving a forklift, for 8 hours a day to earn money for college. I kept telling her it was a character building experience - AND it was.

What are these and why are they so great?

Character building experiences and how to facilitate them. How to help your children get over the walls in their lives by helping them see that they are not there to block them but to test them. Like in The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch. What is character and is it available in stores everywhere?

Here is a link to the most amazing book EVER written on Character, appropriately titled "Character" by Samuel Smiles (what a fun last name!) http://www.fullbooks.com/Character.html