What Does Resilience Look Like in 2020?

We are now a month into 2020. How are you feeling? I’ve been feeling unsteady. I was wondering why until I asked my husband (a strongly analytical guy) how he felt about what was happening in the world around us. My question was actually, “Tell me what you think about what’s going on in the world these days. What is 2020 bringing us so far?”

He began a long lecture on the state of the world. It was hard to listen to. I’m a generally optimistic person and what was most concerning was that I could not argue about any of his points. No matter how much you want to remain positive, and I do, you can’t deny that there are many threats in the world today. I don’t need to list them, you can do that for yourself. The issue is that we still need to carry on, we need to find ways to move forward and to contribute in meaningful ways, even when we feel a certain level of futility.

The Resilience Way is not just about dealing with the personal issues and difficulties that enter our lives, it is about dealing with the uncertainty around us that feels mostly beyond our control. We desperately need resilience so that we can find the opportunities to take action, in whatever way we can. The world needs us to step up… and if we are feeling too overwhelmed by the issues at hand… if we feel helpless… then we can’t do that. If we do nothing then we accept the downward spiral many of us feel 2020 brings so far.

I have always loved The Serenity Prayer,

“Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.”

My dream for The Resilience Way is that we can use this simple model to help us live this way. We can improve our Emotional Well-Being, find the Relationships that support us, and then build a plan that will move us, our families, and our communities, forward.