Do you ever feel like the deck is stacked against you?

Does it ever feel like opposing, impenetrable forces are closing in on you?

When life piles hardships on are you doubtful that you’ll break through to see the light of day?

I was driving to an appointment the other day when something in the periphery caught my eye. I couldn’t slow down to double check so I glanced in the rearview and thought, “Way to go little guy!”

The little plant rises and thrives against the odds! Growing in a foundation primarily made of concrete, it found the crack…the break in the impenetrable force closest to its core, took hold and is rising.

That takes perseverance. That takes resourcefulness. That takes resilience.

But is that the “right” description? Resilience implies that something keeps beating the plant down so that it needs to rise up again and again. Now I don’t witness the plant’s day-to-day life but I don’t imagine there’s a continuous trampling and regrowth happening. What feels more true is that it experienced a difficult beginning that allows it to continually strengthen its stem as it makes its way through the opening towards the sky.

I recently read this written by a healthcare provider – who I assume has received multiple exposures to Compassion Fatigue Training and webinars on how to build resilience in trying times – and their insight is:

“I don’t want to be resilient…Honestly, I think resilience training is counterintuitive, exhausting, and a slap in the face to the person having to complete it. Retroactive resilience training when staff is already burned out just contributes further to their burnout and feelings of failure.

I want support. I want authentic connection and compassion. I want someone invested in my well-being who prioritizes my self-care to prevent me from having to be perpetually resilient. I want someone who values my heartiness and helps to cultivate an environment that fosters continued growth for myself and others.”  ¹

Not wanting to attend another “sit-and-get” training is understandable but I’m surprised how the provider outsources the solutions to support their own well-being.

Would difficult times feel less overwhelming and all-consuming if you had a strong core built to manage whatever life throws at you?

What if you could intervene in your own life live-time so that you aren’t beaten down by challenging times and then have to rise up over and over again?

Proactive resilience. Prosilience.

¹ M. Owens, ‘I do not want to be resilient’, KevinMD.com, 2021, https://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2021/08/i-do-not-want-to-be-resilient.html