Committing to Resilience

The last 10 days have been turmoil both personally and in my world. Globally Australia saw the death of a much loved cricketer who was tragically killed playing the game he loved.  Brisbane the City I live in was hit by a violent storm with no warning and left with an estimated 200 million worth of damage and many close friends and family who have had houses, cars and businesses damaged.  Personally I have had to leave a much loved job to join the new merger of paediatric hospitals and my grandmother died.  Welcome to Life!

Life and the Universe do not wait until we are on stable ground to throw us something new.  How do we stay resilient?  How do we maintain our own wellbeing when sometimes it feels like we are being pounded by one challenge after another?

We have to commit to wellbeing and commit to the things that maintain that wellbeing and sense of balance.  And that is hard.  Working in an environment where children die as part of the job never gets any easier, the level of sadness does not change.  What changes is the way I think about it and the things I can do for myself and others to ensure someone will always be there when those families enter our doors.

For me I have many strategies – reflection, meaning making, humour, exercise, dancing, perspective and an ongoing commitment to believing in what I do.

Friday night I had a few drinks to farewell my old work place and had a few drinks so had to leave the car.  Saturday morning is my Nia dance class which is 25 kms away from my house.  This dance class is core to my recovery from the week and part of my routine for welcoming the new week.  I work early Saturday feeling tired. I wanted to stay in bed however I knew as the day wore on  I would regret this and knowing the challenges of the week ahead did not think this was the best way to commit to my own wellbeing.  So… I walked the 2kms to the train, caught the train, ran another kilometre to get my car and then drove to the dance class. Why?  Because there is never a day I can afford not to commit to my own wellbeing and resilience.  I have to be disciplined to maintaining my resilience all the time – I have to view it as one of my greatest priorities.  So even when I am tired I try to exercise.  When I am feeling miserable – I whistle, dance, laugh and sing.  And in the quiet I think, I ask myself the tough questions of what is bothering me and what I can do about it.  Resilience is NEVER about always feeling positive, strong and able.  Resilience is feeling all of those tough emotions, falling, hurting and getting back up again.

I encourage to find your own pathway to resilience and commit to it.

Blessings to you and yours

Liz x