I said in my previous chapter that we would look at ‘Resilience’ a little more closely, and here is what I have found…
Resilience:
‘the capacity to recover quickly from difficulties, toughness’;
‘the ability of a substance or object to spring back into shape; elasticity’
I found myself being perplexed and pondering on the words ‘quickly’ and ‘back into shape’ – these two expressions sat, let’s say, not comfortably – I then decided to look up the word endurance.
Endurance:
‘the ability to endure an unpleasant or difficult process or situation without giving away’;
‘the capacity of something to last or to withstand wear and tear’
Once again, I found myself being perplexed and this time I pondered on the words ‘without giving away’ and ‘withstand’.
I have not spoken to a single person who doesn’t want to take ‘a bit of this; the way we live now’ away with them to their future, if they have a future. I have not spoken to a single person who didn’t express the wish to change some things, and in many cases, many things; habits and routines in their lives.
I think in many ways, we are sitting where we are because of a ‘fast pace’ and perhaps a quest to always want to bounce back and remain en-route, even though there are many signs, little symptoms, that tell us that we are on the wrong course, the wrong route. Instead we brush them aside and we keep on marching ahead, at a fast pace.
I don’t want to ‘withstand’ without any change, I want change, I want to embrace a slower pace of life, I definitely want to spend more time in and around my home. I want time and space to think and to create. Creating makes me very happy – it is through that connection deep inside, and the outward release, where I truly feel I blossom.
Resilience and Endurance are two top ingredients to function when you want to perform or do well. However, passion and respect for one’s own time and energy means living well. To endure another week and reach Friday night feeling utterly exhausted is not living, is it? Is it being stupid? Mismanaging time? Over-extending beyond your own capacity? I am of course referring to a privileged middle-class… where we have enough, yet we keep on extending ourselves for more. At what cost?
When it comes to training, when I want to improve and perform, when I want to challenge my body – then yes, in these cases throw me buckets full of Resilience and Endurance. Add some stamina in too for good measure. That is the stuff that athletes are made of. For some weird or other reason, it gives them that kick, that high…
