True Grit
True Grit: Mastering Resilience
Resilience is the capacity to recover quickly after a hardship or tragedy.
The ability to spring back into action after an emotional or physical difficulty marks the beautiful toughness of the human spirit. Psychological resilience is, in my opinion, the most valued characteristic a person can have. The ability to cope with substantial stress and adversity while maintaining a positive attitude and simultaneously keeping your emotional discipline during and after said crisis, speaks to the maturity of a person.
Suffering is a chiseling tool for our character and elasticity for our ability to cope with stress if we allow it to be.
We should accept hardship as a means for bettering ourselves. Not ‘invite’ it in the sense that we seek hardship out or make unwise decisions that put us in stressful situations or harm’s way. Rather, when life throws the unforeseen curve ball of pain, we maintain bearing accordingly while acknowledging that the stress or hardship we are experiencing is building in us a deeper personal fortitude.
Not a one of us will get out of this life alive without some serious pain. Trauma and loss are birthrights given to us all at some point in our glorious lives. If we can accept this truth than we can grieve the pain or bear the stress with optimism.
A sense of calm during the moment of impact can wash over us as we embrace the difficulty with hope. Hope that the crisis will end, because it will. Hope that we will survive and not only survive but thrive with a new sense of strength beaming from our body and spirit.
One day, as I was washing my hair at the outside beach access shower like the hundred times I had before when I was homeless. I told myself that, yes, although this moment of shame terrorized my thoughts, that one day I would have my own shower inside my own bathroom and that If I could shower in public, then I could overcome anything.
Silly, to think If I can shower in public then I can overcome anything, but as the sun sets my mind shifted that day.
I did not allow my adversity to cripple me – I used it to push me further into my destiny.
It was my fuel for the fight I had before me. I promise your ability to tap into your own resilience will yield a type of tenacity in you that is unmovable. You will become gritty like the stone-cold power house you are. Resilience takes active practice. Master this cognitive ability and your life will beam with relational and professional success.
Honest Questions
Be honest with yourself but be careful not to judge yourself. This is a time for positive reflection and growth.
· Do you think you are resilient?
· Do you allow hardship to keep you down long?
· Are you grieving/de-stressing in healthy ways? Not using sex, alcohol, or drugs to cope?
· How are you growing your ability to handle stress?
· Do you damage relationships when life gets stressful?
· Have you gone into financial hardship due to the inability to cope with crisis?
· How are you actively working on self-care during times of intense stress?
· Do you invite your small circle in to help during hard times?
May I encourage you to use your stress and hardship as fuel for your fight to be the best version of yourself?
These are just some questions to help get your mind thinking about how you handle stress. Embrace the idea that you are tougher than you think, because you are.
Be resilient, friends. You are worth it.
“I can be changed by what happens to me. But I refuse to be reduced by it.”
-Maya Angelou