Art of Resilience
Resilience is an up-and-coming buzz word in the world of personal growth and achievement. But the concept can get misconstrued to become a source of guilt and burden for those who already hold themselves to high standards of integrity and success.
What’s the thing that would make your life more vital, more fun, more inspired? What is your vision that keeps getting pushed to the sidelines of your busy life?
Maybe it feels like your desire has stayed at arm’s length because there are not enough hours in the day, not enough “extra” money, or too many people with too many needs who require your attention. Or maybe you blame yourself for not being committed enough, hard working enough, confident enough to stick with what you intend. It’s easy, and common, to start to mistrust ourselves, our desires, and our hopes when we have tried and faltered, tried and faltered again to make our dreams come true.
I recently celebrated with a client who finally stopped fighting for (and against) the healthy habits she knew would support her commitment to long-term vitality. For years she had been trying every new fad diet, exercise and meditation program, only to eventually get too busy, bored or sick to stick with it. Her quitting led to lots of evidence that success was not available to her, and a crisis of self-trust.
Spoiler alert: My client and I were not celebrating her having found the “right” diet or meditation program.
What we did celebrate was her monumental mindset shift from “if I am not giving it 100% then I am failing” to “healthy habits serve my biggest commitments and helps me be who I want to be in the world. Healthy living is a practice and a process, and I trust myself to try new things, make mistakes, and keep going.”
This woman transformed how she related to her health goals, and that created new access to taking healthy actions. She wasn’t “perfect” in her healthy habits. She was human. Her deep and multi-layered awareness about the value of long-term healthy living, combined with her new relationship to being in process was a shift of resilience that had her not only making better life choices, but also feel more connected to her value and strength than ever before.
Resilience is defined as the capacity to recover quickly from difficulties; toughness. The resilience I am writing about here, and the resilience I am so excited to share more about in my upcoming Art of Resilience Workshop, is what keeps you in the game and in pursuit of what YOU say is meaningful.
What we are NOT talking about is how to suffer better through the “shoulds” to maintain the impossibly high standards we hold ourselves to. When you practice the art of resilience, your life changes. You have the deep satisfaction that comes from applying yourself to move forward something central to your identity. You have greater access to change and results AND you begin to shift how you perceive yourself and your possibility. Big stuff!
If you are still reading this, I am guessing you have a change you’d like to create in your life. Maybe what you desire is health related, or spiritual, or creative. Maybe you want different relationships or a new career trajectory, or that side business you’ve daydreaming about for so long. Regardless of what it is, my guess is that it is your vision has too often been pushed to the edge of your busy life.
I deeply believe that the change you envision serves a better world, and you embracing your power and practicing resilience in service of what lights you up will have ripple effects in so many directions!
