Being miserable builds character - Part 2

I had a discussion with a friend about the Calvin strip - 'Being miserable builds character' and I believe I need to add this piece. In the interest of full disclosure, I need to state here that a large part of this post should be attributed to said friend who wishes to remain anonymous for reasons I do not quite understand.

Being miserable is not a sufficient condition for building character. Consistently being miserable about the same thing or class of things, may in fact indicate the opposite; a lack of character required to force a change in the things that are making one miserable, because making the change, like learning new skills, seems like too much trouble.

What does build character, is the misery one often goes through, in dealing with the unexpected or the unfamiliar while building the capability to deal with it the future. The misery of running a mile for the first time is an inescapable part of your journey to the pleasure and fulfillment of completing a marathon. This here-and-now misery of aching muscles is fundamentally different from the misery of living with a job or life that you need to change, but are not willing to, for fear of becoming temporarily more miserable.