Resilience: How to Keep Going When Things Get Tough

Image: www.galerie.escalade.ch

Hello everyone, how are you feeling these days? 😊

I am personally feeling very alive and connected. This weekend I had the chance to participate in the Course de l'Escalade for the first time, and what an amazing experience! L'Escalade is a local race that gathers thousands of runners - both experienced and non-experienced - and it is one of the major events of the winter here in Geneva. The atmosphere was absolutely magical and the collective energy co-created by all the participants and supporters coming together to celebrate the event was really impressive.

While I was going up the hills of the Old Town, giving it all, along with my friend Manon, I was thinking and feeling with my whole being, that I would never stop before the end, because we were all together in this. It's such a powerful sensation to strive to achieve your best when you do it together with others. I just felt unstoppable.

But in life, there are some battles we need to face on our own.

We all have our personal journey as a human being on Earth, with its unique opportunities and challenges. And that journey is, inevitably, made of ups and downs.

I've experienced quite a few significant crisis throughout my life, that helped me understand that it's when we are feeling up and balanced, that we should prepare for when we'll be down again. And every crisis is different, so no matter how equipped we think we are, things can still get really tough the next time.

There's been only 6 months since I started Meditaction, and I've definitely been through quite a few ups and downs in the course of this adventure. Most days, I feel super motivated, excited and certain about what I am doing, and I have a strong inner confidence that it's all going to work out. Now, as I mentioned earlier, I'm feeling extremely happy and alive, and it's definitely an "up" moment.

But in less fortunate times, I can feel overwhelmed by uncertainty, fears and hesitation. During those moments, I can fall in a spiral of doubt and self-questioning. Suddenly, it all seems so lonely and difficult, and I wonder if I am ever going to make it. Fortunately, and I think, thanks to all those previous crisis, I've had the chance to build enough resilience to keep going even in the darkest times.

So what do we do when things get really tough?

We all experience disappointment, loss and change in our lives. Be it the loss of a loved one, a tragic accident, a violent trauma, being unemployed, suffering from disease or going through an existential crisis, we all experience hardship and adversity at some point or another in our voyage on the planet.

There is one thing that makes some people better able to cope with these experiences, and that's resilience - the ability to bounce back after adversity. But how do we survive those difficult moments and build that resilience?

1. Accept, accept and accept

In every crisis, there are at least three things we need to accept: the situation we're struggling with, our feelings about it, and the fact that things are changing. And I just can't overstate enough, how crucially important meditation can be in the process of cultivating that acceptance. The more we accept in our minds and in our lives, without judgment, whatever is going on, even if that means embracing feelings of pain, sadness, guilt or despair, the more we create space for understanding and healing.

2. Make sure to take care of yourself

Even in my darkest days, there are three things (on top of meditation!) I keep doing no matter what: having enough sleep, eating healthy foods and getting my body to move. Sometimes we can be so absorbed by our mental and emotional struggles that we forget to take care of our physical bodies. Well, in difficult times, it is more essential than ever to keep fueling our body with the energy it needs to function. Self-care and self-compassion are truly essential for a bounce back!

3. Surround yourself with kind and supportive people

As I was climbing up the hills on the Escalade race, I was saying to myself "Yeah, it's hard... but I am surrounded by such vibrant and positive energy... I'll just keep going!" I tend to take refuge in solitude when I am not feeling well, but the truth is that we all have been through struggles and difficulties in life, and sometimes reaching out for others and sharing with them how we are feeling, can be the best remedy to help us go through our pain. Especially when those people have a positive and kind attitude!

4. Try to find meaning and purpose through your passions

When the pain is so hard that you struggle to even get out of bed or to go out there and meet other people, the best thing you can do, is to remember to do the things you normally enjoy doing when you're feeling happy. For me, it can be listening to some music that I love, expressing myself through writing, taking care of the plants, going outside for a walk in the woods, taking pictures of the sky, the trees, or anything beautiful, watching documentaries or videos of people that inspire me... As someone once said "Happiness can be found even in the darkest of times, if only one remembers to turn on the light".

And sooner than expected, we might be out of the dark hole and ready to achieve great things again. Isn't that beautiful?

Life's a dance - between the light and the darkness.

The moment we accept that, we become truly resilient.

Love,

💗

Tati