Resilience

Talking with friends this week, I realized that not only are we holding a great deal of grief and trauma these days, we are being asked to be compassionate, giving, and resilient in a variety of unprecedented ways. So, my friends and I began to ask ourselves: how do we keep going in ways that are sustainable? The answer came down to resilience.

We began to think of our own lives and of examples of when we were resilient, and what helped us be resilient in those moments in time. My friend, Brook, talked about the Psalms, in the Christian sacred text, and the depth of feeling the writers were able to both feel and express "out loud" on paper, which she saw as a way to build and sustain resiliency.

I agree that allowing yourself to feel your feelings and healthy expression of those emotions or feelings is a great way to be or become resilient. That has definitely been true in my own life. Not only has writing helped me to move thoughts and feelings out of my brain and body so that they don't get stuck there, but writing has also connected me to my truest self, to my creativity, and inadvertently to Spirit, Source, the Universe, higher power, etc. in ways that keep me grounded - which has helped me be more resilient. Writing has also helped me find answers that I was looking for to questions or problems that were too deep to access before I started writing.

Connecting with and being supported by loved ones and being in nature to connect with mother earth has also helped me to be resilient over the years. Spending time with the children in my extended family and playing games has also renewed and replenished my soul. For me, there is no sweeter sound in the world than the whole-hearted laughter of children!

With all of that said, I think it is important to have balance in our lives - to find and do those things, on a regular basis, that nourish and replenish our minds, bodies, and souls. I think it is about finding those things that bring us the most peace in our lives, or that help us to feel like there is something bigger than us operating in the world - whether we believe in God or not.

In this moment, what comes to me is the spiel they give you when you first get on a plane.... put the oxygen mask on yourself first and THEN help others to do the same. It is important to have enough energy - and oxygen - in our own tanks. Otherwise, we won't be well enough to help anyone else!

When in your life have you been or had to be resilient? What are the things that helped you to be resilient? Are there strategies and tools that you used then that would be helpful in sustaining you now? What can we do to help you be more resilient? What might it look like for you to live a resilient life right now? Do you have a resilience story that you want to share?

Blessings and Peace to you all,

Carson Hawks