Resiliency

Resiliency. I love that word! It's defined as the power or ability to be able to return to the original form or position after being bent, compressed or stretched. Life can sometimes bend us out of shape, or can feel compressive in extreme grief or like we are being stretched in a million different directions from external demands and responsibilities. The only thing we can guarantee in life is change and the way we can greet change is with a resilient spirit, heart and mind. We are going to suffer loss, fear, sadness, grief and heartbreak at some point in our life so our ability to be resilient is going to be put to the test. I'm sure we have all experienced times in our lives where it felt like we would never bounce back to our old selves, where it felt like we would never again experience the sweetness that life has to offer, where it felt like the world only had suffering and sadness to taste. The truth is when we bounce back we get to bounce into the sweetness and the nectar, we experience joy like we've never experienced it before because we have tasted life's darkness. If the only flavour on offer was sweetness would we be able to appreciate the bitter, salty, sour and pungent? We can only ever become resilient by being bent out of shape, by feeling like the world is colliding in on us and being challenged beyond what we feel we are capable of. Our resiliency muscles don't have the opportunity to become strengthened when life is sweet, juicy and ease filled but when we have experienced some of the other flavours on offer at the buffet of life we can then choose to hold a whole new appreciation of the sweetness and truly soak it in.