RISING STRONG WITH RESILIENCE

Resilience grows the more committed we are to engage with life — in all its messy complexity. When we see the trials of daily life as well as the big setbacks and deep grief as being part of humanity,  knowing that these things, though part of life, are temporary and passing, then we find ourselves diving deep into the joys, the laughter, the beauty of a connection with another soul, the soft petals of a flower in bloom, the smell of our favourite scent, the taste of our favourite meal and unexpectedly, life opens up to us and we find ourselves living.

Really living. 

Resilience grows by learning to walk and realising that falling down is just part of the process. Confidence grows through experiencing the unknown and surviving. Next time it is not only not unknown but you have growing evidence that you can face the unknown - you develop skills, understandings and day by day, challenge by challenge you start to believe that you can face whatever life has in store for you.

As you walk this journey, you may turn your head and notice there are others walking alongside you, falling down and getting up again, trying on some new skills, facing challenges. Sometimes you will be able to lend them some strength and sometimes you will need some strength from them.

Sometimes a smile is all it takes. 

Even when life is moving slowly, it seems to move too fast. Below is an opportunity to intentionally slow down and communicate with yourself. It is a chance to notice things about yourself that you may be in the habit of minimising or disregarding. You may find as you go through this process that your advice to yourself is just what you need to hear.

Expressive writing

Imagine for a moment that you could write a letter and send it back to yourself at the beginning of the pandemic. You can freely write whatever comes to mind and some people find prompts helpful, if that’s you, you can think about the questions below:

• What do you know now that would have been helpful for you to know then? 

• What would you tell yourself to do more of? 

• What would you tell yourself to do less of? 

• What relationships advice would you give yourself?

• How would you encourage yourself that you’re going to make it through this?

• What strength do you see in yourself now that you didn’t see then?

• How could you have been kinder to yourself through this time?

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And now for a final time, bring your awareness to your heart. Feel it beating and know its strength. As you breathe in and out, take a moment to acknowledge what you have achieved through this process and as you rise to go on your way, may you rise strong.