Resilience
This week I was reading about the character trait of resilience.
It is “the capacity to recover quickly from difficulties; toughness.
The strength and speed of a person’s response to adversity.”
I am learning to be more resilient, and I’m so thankful for every situation prior to this year and its challenges that strengthened that trait in me. Resilience, like any other character trait, is not just given, it is built over time.
Physical strength and flexibility is built in the Gym with weights and exercises. Internal strength and resilience, though, is built in what I call the “Gym of Life.” This “Gym” is basically our personal unpleasant or challenging circumstances with which we routinely find ourselves in. It is in going through our individual difficulties that we grow our inner strength and capacity to handle life well. If you embrace your circumstances and are exercised in them rather than trying to avoid them, strong character and virtue will gradually be built and maintained within you.
You cannot purely think your way to inner strength. There must be a circumstance with which you can apply your empowering thoughts. As it is said, “Faith (beliefs) without works is dead.” If you want your beliefs to be alive and life giving, you must actually LIVE them!
So, when challenges come, remember they don’t come to knock you down, but rather to build
you up…
…to make you more complete and capable for your future, and to help you discover that Power to overcome which lies within each and every one of you!
Day by day, I am gratefully finding mine.
