Resilient
Definition of “Resilient”: being able to withstand or recover quickly from difficult conditions.
Have you ever thought about the fact that the only way babies learn to walk is by falling? Over and over and over again, they topple, they teeter, they crash. And over and over and over they get back up and try again. The fact that we are all walking around only happened because we were brave, we had a goal (reaching that toy or those loving arms), and we brushed off our failed attempts and tried again.
We can all learn a lot about resiliency from our baby-selves.
When did failure become a bad word? I can almost guarantee you that anyone you know who is successful at something only reached their goal because they faced many difficult conditions, failed often, and KEPT GOING. Resiliency IS success. Often the most satisfying successes are a direct result of failure and endurance and difficulty. We only truly fail when we stop trying.
In a recent conversation with Rachael Herrscher on Today’s Mama Podcast I reflected on helping kids become resilient.
“Kids problem solve super quickly and they figure things out on their own if we give them the chance. Enabling them to deal with challenges and problem solve on their own is really important and we’re not actually helping them when we coddle too much and do everything for them and try to protect them from every little challenge that comes their way.”
God parents us in a similar way. He lets us fall and learn from our attempts and mistakes, and His presence encourages us to get back up. Just like a loving parent cheers on their child learning to walk, God is not going to do the work for us, but He will be with us the whole time. And take comfort, His grace will always pick us back up.
For more on resiliency check out my Unstoppable Year Course, or read about Nick, my guest for Month 2 on Overcoming Obstacles.
