Nothing tests the quality of a product like the original use for which it was made. It is in hard times that resilience is truly tested – Jillian Haslam
By now, you should have noticed that life does not progress in a straight line like a 100 metersprint. It is more like a river with twists, bends, rough edges, and boisterous windsthat all form part of the course.
Sadly, a place of comfort has never supported growth, it is in times of need that the hidden resources come forth. To have a successful life, it is important to know how to deal with negative events. J. K Rowling said that rock bottom became the solid foundation on which she built her life.
Hard times are the bends and rough edges that life presents us with in order to inspire us to find a better version of ourselves being revealed. It is surely difficult and painful to go through these negative times, but we can control the outcome with the help of resilience.
Just Seven
Roman Polanski was seven years old when he lost his mother to the murdering in Auschwitz and his father was transported to another concentration camp. At that tender age, he had to devise means to escape death and get on with life. To achieve this aim, he pretended to be Roman Catholic and wandered through the Polish countryside.
He was going from one orphanage to another in order to survive. He lived as a destitute, sneaking into cinemas to tryout his acting interest. In this ordeal, he was able to attend and complete film school. He successfully directed his first film that went on to make the first Polish film nominated for an Academy Award. He then went on to direct the popular “Chinatown” in 1974 which won several awards.
As young as seven, Polanski amid the tragedy of life to which he had no control learned to be strong for himself and profited his life through one skill alone - resilience. He remained optimistic and committed to having a good life even when it was not physically obtainable.
Becoming Resilient
Everything in life respondsto a form of force. The mechanical world is controlled by forces like pull, push, friction, gravitation, and others. It then sufficesto conclude that without force, nothing changes. Resilience is not conferred or given like an award. It is a state of mind, a way of seeing problems, a belief system that gives strength to keep going. It is an attribute that can be cultivated.
There is no better way to become resilient than getting yourself to believe that you have what it takes to make the grade. I developed a resilient mind by the tragedy of my childhood and teenage years. Those years were extremely dark but still, they were foundational for my accomplishments. To build resilience, there is a need for inspiration from those that have journeyed the paths of pain and still proceed to succeed. There is a place of consciously thinking and acting positively irrespective of the situation that leads to accomplishment.
In my humble opinion, the seed of resilience is sown by positive mental attitudes, inspiring stories of resilient heroes and it is nourished by facing adversity head on. It is important to always remember that ordinary men that can hold fast in turbulence were those who became“real” heroes.
“It’s your reaction to adversity, not adversity itself that determines how your life’s story will develop.”― Dieter F. Uchtdorf
You are your Hero
In the final analysis, there is an all essential truth that you must never lose sight of; you alone are responsible for your life. Learning resilience and standing while the wave is hovering over you is not what anyone can do for you, you have got to stand up for yourself and fight to get out of that sea on turmoil, hardship or crisis.
Your life is custom made for you. In the words of Paula McLain “My life was my life; I would have to stare it down, somehow, and make it work for me.”
Failure or success, you must realize will be a result of the choices and the decisions you make. Resilience being at the top of the list. We can choose to go with the flow or fight to makes our lives sublime. Times are hard, it was much worse when I was growing up butmastering the art of resilience helped me to make it out out a victor.
“Although the world is full of suffering, it is also full of overcoming it – Helen Keller”