“Get up!” he yells as you search for the energy to face another disappointment, unexpected failure or heart breaking defeat.
“Keep moving! You can do this!” she motivates as your will to continue on the path of what started as an exciting vision or goal fades, and your dream now feels like your worst nightmare!
Let’s be honest, we have all been there and some actually realise we are in and out of that narrative weekly. In the world as we know it today there are so many contributing factors that negatively impact our lives we have no choice but to be in this cycle of, what seems to be, never ending uncertainty. What we do know for sure is he winner is – STRESS! You and I are getting so good at “managing” our stress that soon we will be hoping that stress, like fitness or weight loss can be “controlled” by a quick-fix “fat burner”. Actually there is a strength that has been around for decades, something that doesn’t come easy, takes a huge amount of effort and commitment and can be used to improve environments, circumstance or situations. Quite simply, “The Art of Resilience!” The beauty is Resilience is very often subtle not powerful, sometimes gentle and not robust and is always prepared for every situation – but only if it is trained.
I read a post recently where a young lady said, “I dream of never being called resilient again. I’m exhausted by strength, I want support……”
For me a misunderstanding, something we all experience in our efforts to persevere and to show grit, we confuse the Art of Resilience with the Act of Resilience. Resilience is not always about doing and doing more or doing it again, in fact very often and most importantly resilience is about resting, taking account, breathing and trying to understand. Then from a position of reality, of neutral thinking we allow ourselves the opportunity to respond to the situation and not react.
Resilience in training, will teach you to manage your energy, to be less about enduring and more about recharging, to be clear on your why so that your get up and go is always understood.
Resilience will allow you to deal with your stress and stop you trying to manage it. The difference is you can’t formalise stress and that is what management relates to, but to deal with it, you take what comes and navigate a preferred outcome.
So shift your focus from perfection to excellence, remove comparison to protect your confidence. Be intentional about your rest and recovery.
Resilience can be learnt, it is like a muscle so train it!