Do you remember where you were on September 11th 2001? The events of that day are etched as clearly in my mind today as they were twenty years ago. Dealing with times of adversity of challenge is hard and can test our resilience to its limit.

But we are far more resilient than we give ourselves credit for and that resilience coupled with adversity can lead to something called post-traumatic growth.

Here you emerge, not having merely survived and learnt a few of life’s lessons, but stronger, more creative, more determined, more purposeful and with a far clearer perception of how you will choose to live your life.

When we talk about resilience, we talk about grit, perseverance and tenacity All great stuff except it also needs to include knowing when to let go of being super resilient to draw breath, rest, recover and or ask for help.

My climb to Goat Cave taught me a lot about resilience and what to do when you’ve run out of rope.

Are you feeling a little fragile?

One year into the global pandemic we have all endured so much. So much uncertainty, fear for our future and that of our families. As we anxiously await the roll out of the vaccination program here in Australia, our reality is we will continue to experience further outbreaks of the virus, lockdowns of hot spots and restrictions on travel.

Our fragility can make us afraid.
But it can also serve to uncover our strengths.

When thinking about the ANZACS the qualities that come to mind include mateship and sacrifice along with courage, endurance and humour. These are the qualities that define us as a people. These are the qualities that will serve you well to successfully navigate through these difficult and uncertain times.

If overwhelm, anxiety or loneliness have been getting you down, there are a number of ways to draw from the spirit of the ANZACS, to reconnect to your sense of purpose, rekindle your determination to find a path forward and experience hope and realistic optimism.

It’s not that we need more resilience, which from a cynic’s perspective is seen as “let’s see how much more we can squeeze out of our people before they crack?”

If anything, it’s about creating sustainable resilience.

Adapting to change is something that’s always been inherently useful to us as humans and our adaptive nature has meant we’ve been able to survive changes to our circumstances or environment.

And that’s good because our resilience is an indicator of that adaptiveness.