Resilience.

It's a word we have heard a lot recently. In tough times, the word resilience often pops up. And rightly so. There is a lot of value in resilience.

But as we've thought about the idea more we've been struck by two particular things:

The idea that resilience is about bouncing back, recovering quickly
That resilience is about a material going back to its usual shape

If we've learnt anything over the last few months it's that our recovery from Covid, globally and personally, hasn't been quick. That doesn't mean we've lacked resilience. It's just that sometimes things are outside of our control. We live a world that is so used to hurry that we like to think we can recover quickly but it’s often a process that takes time, and slowing down. We’re being forced to face that today, perhaps uncomfortably.

And I don't think the idea of going back to our usual shape works either. These last 9 months have changed us; they've changed the way our world works. Some of those changes have been beautiful. Some of them have been hard and devastating. But I think we may come out of this in a different shape. And that isn't a bad thing. That doesn’t mean we haven’t grown resilience. In fact, I think it means we have definitely grown.

I’d like you to think for a minute about a humble seed. Seeds don't grow quickly. They are hidden away under the ground, getting nutrients, putting down roots, growing strong and taking their time before they produce visible shoots. Perhaps we can learn something about resilience from the humble seed. It doesn’t rush the process, it allows the environment around it to shape it.

That doesn’t mean it hides away and does nothing. But it goes at the pace of the environment around it and it allows that to form how it grows.

So today we’d like to re-define resilience, if we may. We wonder if resilience is more about living well in the environment around you. Having practices and habits in place that allow you to keep going, even to thrive and grow. Choosing to do those things when our lives are hemmed in, sometimes feel very dark and we’re very much like that seed hidden away in winter.

Over the next few weeks we’re going to be looking at some of the life practices and habits that can help us to foster resilience. If we go back to our seed picture, we can think of them as the soil, the sunlight, the nutrients. Follow along on our blog and social media to find out how these practices can help you to maintain your wellbeing and flourish, even when life is not what we would choose.