Resilience
Last year I wrote a post describing my annual tradition of words, the year 2020 was an unapologetic exercise in ruthlessness that was met by an equally ruthless year. My confrontation with 2021 was no small task, but while the pandemic continues to shape our perspectives, culture, and relationships, I find myself ever grateful to the opportunities I’ve been presented.
It’s no secret I’ve been busy (especially since my last blog post was a year ago), but aside from necessary tasks and new projects I also conducted a much needed audit across my life that I would argue made it better. I’m twenty-six years old, and I’m proud to say I’m still alive today but even more so that I’ve accomplished a lot this year:
I married someone who makes me and my life better.
I achieved positive growth rates for all the businesses I market.
I found love in a foster dog that failed to find a home except for with our family.
and I successfully trained and ran a 5K run at a time I feel proud of.
Could I have accomplished more? Of course, but what I find myself most proud of is the fact that I lived up to this years word: Resilience - (1) “the capacity to recover quickly from difficulties; toughness.” or (2) “the ability of a substance or object to spring back into shape; elasticity.”
This blog post will cover my entire reflection on the year and how resilience got me through it.
Why the word: Resilience?
The Midwest made me fat. Okay, the truth is: I lacked self control when I got to the Midwest, and as a result I gained a lot of weight (relative to my accustomed weight gain). So I wasn’t too happy with myself physically - but I was working all the time.
I wanted to reframe my priorities to balance my professional/financial aspirations with personal growth and happiness. Queue: Running. My knees are not what they were at 15 (thanks football) and because my injuries made me lose my college soccer dreams, I never ran or exercised - just watched my calories. Retaking running in 2021 was a big step for me, because it made me realize that to build up, sometimes you have to rebuild. Rebuilding naturally takes a lot of work, it feels harder because you’re used to what you could previously do: but you have to cut yourself some slack. Here’s where resilience kicks in, and here’s what I wanted from it:
The resilience to stay dedicated even though I don’t have the same stamina.
The resilience to get back to a weight I found acceptable.
The resilience to put away my work enough to prioritize my goals.
Easier said than done, but thankfully I accomplished all three of those objectives and successfully ran my first 5K this year in October.
Resilience:
When you think your legs wont rUn 3 miles from injuRies, bUt you slowly build to a 25 minute 5K run.
Resilience: More than the Body
While running a 5K, changing my habits, and losing 20 pounds this year is definitely an accomplishment I’m proud of: resilience has a larger affect on my psyche than my physique.
A lot has been lost during the pandemic, that includes friendships and relationships. I know I’m an idealist, but there are some values that I’ve lost along the way. Over the years, in the interest of social survival, I’ve adapted my ideals and mannerisms for the sake of friendships and approvals. The older I’ve become the less stock I put in these things, so I’ve taken advantage of the pandemic not just to reframe my physical resilience - but my mental and emotional resilience. In that regard - here’s what I worked on when it comes to mental and emotional resilience:
The mental resilience to organize my values and ideals: how to treat others and how I want to be treated.
The emotional resilience to remain level headed in the face of challenges, (perceived) injustices, and stresses.
The mental and emotional resilience to fight for those ideals for me and for no one else - while still holding love in my heart for everyone.
These three goals came harder for me, but as they say “all opportunity costs” and the trade off that I made was beneficial for my personal sanity. I’ve learned that you don’t always get what you give, but you can decide how much you commit to giving. I learned to give less, love more, and to really hone in on the most important of ideals I hold.
It may have cost me a few friends, a few familial relationships, and a few opportunities but in the end - I kept all the best ones and I’m so happy I did.
Resilience:
To always be yourself, to PRIORITIZE Love, and to never comprOmise: because You’re worth believing in.
closing Notes:
Resilience isn’t as easy as it seems, in owning my home for the third year I’ve recognized that maintaining is more important than fixing, the same applies here.
If you’re dedicating yourself to resilience, I’ll leave you with the lessons I found throughout 2021:
Resilience requires believing not just that you can accomplish your goals, but that you can make the effort to grow incrementally.
To be truly resilient in mind, body, and feeling - you need clear focus and consistency of ideals.
Finally: resilience also pairs with elasticity, so work hard but don’t forget to be a little flexible.
We all make mistakes, we all drop the ball, but resilience is that voice that can will you to keep going. Actions will always speak louder than words, but consistent actions will always tell you the truth.
We’ll see what 2022 brings, and what word will join the dictionary of my life. I can promise you one thing though: more consistent content. So stay tuned!