Cultivating Resilience: How to Bounce Back Stronger from Life's Challenges

The moments in my life that have had the most profound impact tend to be those that have broken me down to enable a rebuild of a more resilient and true version of me, while not always a pretty show.  The work now has shifted to a journey of witnessing the breakdown rebuild, watching as the egoic self resurfaces the personality structure to be an improved version.  There is yet another potential for the process to transition to no need for a rebuild at all.  To have the ego dissolve as it struggles to hold on, not there yet though.

This journey has taught me that there is nothing to fear, nothing to defend, and that there is an opportunity to play with my life and embrace the joy of this human experience. There truly is beauty in the breakdown, that enables the breakthrough and letting go.

Over the weekend I revisited The Coaching Room NLP Practitioner course, it was over 8 years ago when I first was introduced to this community and life has been a transformational journey ever since.  Looking back at my first experience of these tools was refreshing.  To recall this version of myself that had been so attached to getting the practices right first time and being seen as an informed and intelligent participant. The struggles that I went through to embrace a more authentic interaction with learning new skills have been profound. 

It all came to a head for me at the end of 2022, when my resilience and growth work was pushed to the next leading edge.  A new paradigm shift was being triggered. This believe in the power of collaboration and shared meaning making to propel us forward was limited.  From this perspective the reality of alternative approaches was being excluded and therefore become a blind spot for me.  In retrospect there is a new capacity to look back at these interactions and see how much of the picture I was missing. 

For me the gift was how the struggles no matter how debilitating they seemed were all construct based and with space and self reflection I was able to rise above them and leverage my resilience to get on with the job.

Resilience for me is about getting real:

• Get real about the powers I have and those I don't to influence the situation

• Acknowledge the different perspectives at play

• Depersonalise and step out of the emotion

• Look for the missing elements of the system operating and how the component parts influence each other

• Trying new things, get curious about different ways of expressing myself and the impacts it has

In looking back there is great appreciation for the challenges faced in my life and the new trajectories they have propelled me into. Know that every moment shall pass, whether great or dismal. This too shall pass.

Ride the waves of life and take every opportunity to embrace the opportunities for growth and upgrades on who you take yourself to be.