Resilience: ability to recover readily from illness, depression, adversity, or the like; buoyancy.
In The Resilience Factor, Karen Reivich and Andrew Shatte say that human beings have four fundamental uses for resilience: 1. To overcome the obstacles of childhood;
2. To steer through everyday adversities; 3. To bounce back after a life-altering event or major trauma; 4. To reach out to lead a more fulfilling and purposeful life.
With the earthquake in Japan, the uprisings in the Middle East, the weak economy here, we need to cultivate resilience more than ever. For those of us who inhabit the Widowsphere, the search for resilience within ourselves is a constant. Where does it come from? How do we find it? Are some people blessed with a resilient nature and do others have to work at it? Do those of us who have overcome past adversities develop the resilience to pull through present ones? I've spent the last few years mulling over these thoughts. In the next few weeks I'll discuss some of my thoughts. Meanwhile....
CONTEST CONTEST CONTEST CONTEST CONTEST CONTEST
Name a real person or a fictional character who you believe personifies resilience and explain why in one sentence.
Rules: 1. The name you choose has to be recognizable by most people. In other words, don't nominate your second cousin or your next door neighbor.
2. You must be a follower to participate, so if you're new, scroll down to the bottom of the page and sign up to follow and write New Follower by your nominee. If you're already a follower, write Already a Follower.
3. I will draw 3 names on April 4. First two prizes will be journals so you can record your own journey to resilience. Third prize will be a copy of Stranger in Her Arms by Lorna Michaels (Me).
I'm looking forward to your responses and some good discussions about resilience.
2 comments:
Resiliency
A woman named
Resiliency
had no place
to write,
so she found
a space
inside her mind.
It invited her: Come sit down,
bring your pad of paper
and your pen.
The woman
listened to her mind.
She gathered in supplies
and climbed onto a limb.
There she sat
and spoke unto herself.
She said to those who died:
Meet with me.
That night
they set upon her lids.
When they left,
she found a room
to write in.
- Esther Altshul Helfgott
appears in Layers of Possibility:
Healing Poetry from Members of the National Association of Poetry Therapy, Margot Van Sluytman, ed. Palabras Press, Calgary, Alberta, 2007
Hi! I am a New Follower from shewrites and I am thrilled to think about resilience tonight. I am a parent of 2 teen agers and I need to inhale resilience like laughing gas, as if that heady scent could transport my gripping seriousness to high heeled humor.
This won't win me a prize in your contest, but I don't mind. I think every Mother is a Star of Resilience in the constellation of humankind. Her body expanded to encompass another souls' home. Her body expanded more to let that soul take up residence on the earth. And, in growing with that new human, every single mother, no matter how attentive, exudes resilience, just to live in the company of another so intimate, one who shares my blood and breath from the very beginning of their time- I guess I am claiming that resilience for myself.
Thank you for asking.
Sincerely, Suzi
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