Practicing Resilience

I just got home from a long pinch-me weekend that had one tiny dark kink to it.

I want to tell you about it because I’m getting a nudge to do so and I’ve decided to listen to my intuition. 

First, I was at the wellness event.

The one I look forward to every year.

Most attended online, however there were many safety precautions made, and they invited a small studio audience, so it felt right to attend in person. 

I met friendly MDs, DOs, and health practitioners of all kinds.

I saw friends from years past.

What brought us together is our desire to help others get to the root of their heaviness and live healthier, happier and lighter lives.

There was outdoor dancing.

Outdoor eating.

(The food was amazing—paleo, vegan, pegan, keto, Mediterranean, you name it, they had it.)

The event was full of inspiration on how to help heal our world. 

It was a place where there was no noticeable divisiveness, and if there were differences of opinion, there was respect and courtesy.

Except. Except for one interaction.

I was in a session where the instructions were to meet someone new and connect for 7 minutes. Our assignment was to see how we could help the other person with whatever they needed.

I turned to the person sitting to my right with a big smile. 

I knew of her, and between us, had her on a pedestal. 

She looked at me in an agitated way and went into a dramatic monolog about how my energy was very strong, very intense and that it was too much. She leaned against the back of her chair and physically acted as if my rush of energy was pushing her over it.

I froze.

I remembered all the times I’ve felt like I’ve been too much in life.

I remembered all the times I believed who I was at my essence was wrong. 

I remembered all the times I’ve tried to tone it down and show up as someone else.

And then I took a breath.

I slowly breathed in and felt my chest and stomach expand.

I let the breath come out and in that instant, I realized that it wasn’t me. Something was deeply wrong with her, and that the only way to salvage the remaining 5 minutes was to become curious.

I asked her how could I help her.

She quickly changed her tone and shared that I could become an affiliate for her. I could sign up to share her products with the world and make some money doing so.

I listened. Her products were for anxiety.

It all clicked.

I declined the opportunity to talk with her about my mission in life and so she filled up the remaining 1 minute reiterating the fact that my initial energy was just too intense and overwhelming.

The bell rang signaling it was time to find someone else.

With a knot in my throat, I sat down with the next person. Still shaken, I continued to focus on slow breathing until I found myself finding my way back to myself again.

This next person had kind eyes and a kind message. She told me she loved my energy and asked me to be a speaker at her international event.

What got me through this experience stronger and happier than arriving was resilience.

Now NO ONE avoids hardship and trauma. It is part of the human experience 

HOW we snap back, our resilience, is KEY to our life experience.

With resilience, everything becomes manageable.

Scientists have begun to prove, and measure, this very thing, and the news is that you can LEARN resilience.

My new friend Jodi, knows resilience.

We met at the event and I was immediately drawn to her kind eyes.

She shared that she lost her son Max in a car accident when he was 12 years old. He would be 15 today.

Jodi forged a path to resilience on her own when no roadmap existed, finding a way to navigate her overwhelming grief and heartache. Over time, and through trial and error, she was able to identify certain strategies that always helped. During this time, she also began to seek out experts to research and understand HOW and WHY these particular tactics seemed to help. In the year following her son's death, by leaning into her grief she was able to double her business, write a bestselling book, and show up for her customers, her team and her surviving daughter.

Now it's your turn.

Where is life feeling heavy? How can you practice resilience?

Resilience is the lighter path.