Resilience
I recently attended, or to be more accurate, tried to become engaged in a Zoom presentation on resiliency during these troubling times. The webinar was offered by an organization I trust and by presenters I respect. And yet, as timely as the topic might be, it was not compelling enough for me to focus on it. I tried to listen, but kept getting distracted and wound up working on a client’s book design while the speakers’ voices droned on in the background.
Since the webinar, I have been exploring why I was so bored with their practices, tools and tips for getting through dark times. The conclusion I came to was that the subject of resiliency didn’t resonate with me because I’m really quite good at it already.
I imagine my ability to ride the waves of life with some degree of equanimity is a fortuitous combination of trait and skill, of an innate ability enhanced by lessons learned and meditations sat. This is not to say that I don’t get overwhelmed, overcome or overwrought at times, most often appropriately. But I generally manage to come back to myself and move on within a relatively short time.
Like every other woman (I thought I typed human, but auto correct changed it to woman!), I have experienced trauma, pain, and loss. I have experienced the requisite deaths of beloved family and friends, financial setbacks, and my second favorite dog getting run over by the garbage truck. I live with the pain and fatigue of an often debilitating chronic illness. And I daily endure a world suffering from arrogance, greed and self-serving politics, the destruction of our planet, misogyny, racism, anti-semitism, and unspeakable injustices.
And yet, I’m still here, stronger than ever, even more confident in the essential benevolence of the universe. It’s so often hard to see, to hold on to, but when it has counted, I so far have managed to make peace with whatever has come my way — in the light or from the shadow. My gratitude is huge, and my wish/hope/intention is that this grace of resiliency will continue to the end.
