There has been a great deal of adapting on the fly these days, so I thought I would bring that up as a topic of discussion.

As you know, things don't always go as planned. Quite often, we need to pivot unexpectedly in a new direction, one we totally didn't anticipate. 

But adaptation is not failure, nor is it giving up.

Being resilient isn't always going to feel very strong.

It means wading through what’s tough, making hard decisions and being vulnerable and honest with yourself about how you're really doing. In other words, you express the most resilience when you feel the least comfortable and resilient.

Resilience isn’t about bouncing back.

Imagine this; you’re start a romantic relationship at Point A in your life. You bring your whole self to the table, a heart full of love, but after a time of full emotional investment, it doesn’t work out. You both go your separate ways.

Resistance.

It’s something we all feel and contend with from time to time. It ebbs and flows like the tide, easing us from resilience to the heavy sensation of being stuck, then back again. Fatigue, stress, self care and situational pressure are only a few things that help determine how resilient or resistant we feel on a particular day, or in any particular moment.

What was the process like?

Exciting. Deeply fulfilling. Incredible. Incredibly challenging. A dream come true. At times, truly overwhelming.

The Art of Being Human has tested me on so many of the levels I write about inside it. As I’ve talked about both online and in the book, it’s my story but also my legacy. It is everything I have learned in a lifetime of personal development learning and implementation.

You may have heard a similar script in your mind, running on repeat.

I’m not good enough… I’m the exception to the rule… I’ll always come up short… I have the worst luck… Life has it in for me… I’m such an idiot…

If not, that’s great. But if any of these statements resonated, I want you to know that you are normal, not broken.

Life demands resilience from us all. Whether your call has come or it has yet to occur, life will inevitably give you an opportunity to pull strength out of yourself that you never thought possible, from places inside you have yet to visit.

With resilience, comes darkness and the challenge to handle it. Darkness offers the question of whether you’re ready, willing and capable of handling it.

Every experience is an opportunity to grow yourself as a person. You can mine for gold in the worst set of circumstances and you will always find it because there is always something to grow from. Since life is based in dichotomy — that intoxicatingly stark contrast between polar opposites — and we can't avoid the bad that inherently balances out the good, then at least we can learn how to embrace it all and make the best of it. Own it and use it.