Resilience.

Maggie Fogg
Jul 28, 2017 · 3 min read

Within the personal development space, there’s a phrase that describes the ease of an experience that flows freely, and simply sits right. People say, “this feels in alignment” — or “this is in flow”.

flow: the state of operation in which a person performing an activity is fully immersed in a feeling of energized focus, full involvement, and enjoyment in the process of the activity.

While living in ‘flow’ is certainly the dream, life is full of ying and yang, the dichotomy that makes our days interesting. Wherever there is alignment, so will eventually come struggle — and this is the space where many consider ‘growth’ to be born.

Yeah…. The Universe has a dark sense of humor. It always seems that as you start to take positive steps and get traction, struggle inevitably rears its ugly head. It’s jarring, and feels like a cruel joke… but I’ve started to learn that it’s also a chance to rise stronger.

I’m telling you this, because my recent weeks have felt full of struggle.

After a transformational year abroad with Remote Year, I honestly and truly felt like a changed person. Most notably: someone who now viewed the uncertainty of the future as an endless pool of possibility, rather than a terrifying black hole of unknown.

Well — that is until Remote Year ended in May. Our community parted ways, back to our respective home bases, or on to new and exciting destinations. I left for home, charged full of adrenaline, positivity and newfound gumption, but was quickly met with a series of struggles: job opportunities that had suddenly been frozen, difficulty finding freelance work, a cold and unfriendly city… blah, blah.

A visit to my hometown of Winnipeg, Manitoba, and the support of my family brought a welcome reprieve from these challenges. I passed my days spending time with my dad. We would chat about business strategy over breakfast and personal growth while running through the park — even ‘the meaning of life’ during an afternoon dog-walk.

On one of those walks, he said something crucial on the subject of struggle, “I wish you kids [me and my brother that is] had dealt with more failures when you were young. If I could change one thing, it would be to instill more resilience in you.”

That ate away at me for a couple of weeks. Resilience truly is one of the most powerful skills we can cultivate.

Struggles affect all of us at different points in our life, regardless of how ‘successful’ we are. In fact, if you’re successful and you’re not struggling, you’re doing it wrong.

As the wheels started to turn, I rationalized: the answer is not to NOT try, as I once thought, nor is the answer is to ‘be perfect’, or ‘do it better’. The answer, I realized, is to be more resilient.

Keep going. Pick yourself up. Build momentum. Give yourself a break. Try again. Try something different. Get back on the horse.

You know what I call all of these cliches? ‘Character-building’ — and I truly believe in their power. Living it isn’t easy, and like many things, is an exercise in momentum and practice. Of course, the control freak in me wants to take some sort of immediate action and ‘be better’ at being resiliant …which kind of makes me laugh.

However, as with many things in life, the change won’t come from taking action, it will come from an important shift of perspective. So, let’s do it. Let’s be our own cheerleaders, and one for others too. Let’s redefine the value of failing and getting back up again for what it is — a triumph.

We live in an age where virtually anything is possible — perhaps just not possible right away, or exactly as we first envisioned it. Those who will achieve this desirable ‘flow state’ are the ones who pursue passion, purpose and growth as a life-long endeavour and have heartily welcomed resilience into their lives.

Written by

I believe in the power of transformation and bravely questioning our status quo in pursuit of passion, meaning & connection… I also wear the marketing hat.

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