It is synergistic that as we are in the throes of what has been labeled “the new normal,” that the next letter in the alphabetical rotation of values is R for Resilience. By definition, resilience is the ability to adapt or bounce back; to recover from illness, adversity or depression; to return to one’s original form or position after being bent, compressed or stretched. I think we can all relate to feeling bent, compressed and stretched as of late.
It is hard to say where each of us will be physically, financially or emotionally at the end of this experience as we don’t know when the end will come or what will transpire between now and then. Although I hope we all “bounce-back” I don’t believe it should or can be to the exact same place from whence we came. I am not going to make a list of the lessons that can be learned from this experience, because for each of us that lesson will be different. The important thing is to consciously reflect on what you want it to be.
I often share quotes from Viktor Frankl’s Man’s Search for Meaning and two seem particularly relevant today:
- “Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms—to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.”
- “When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves.”
Whether your life is overwhelmed with a houseful of family to care for, a job that requires you to be on the front lines, a business with an uncertain future, a sense of isolation as you shelter in place alone or a myriad of other circumstances being experienced across the globe, know that your resilience is a natural strength that you already have earned. Every prior challenge and opportunity, every previous success and failure, every individual win and loss that you’ve experienced up to this point have provided you the resiliency to make it through this moment and to come out even stronger. All you need is to find the right path for you, pivot your previous plan and choose your own attitude.
Wishing you good humor and great health,
Stacey