Building Resilience
Those of us who focus our selves and our lives on loving-kindness have to build our resilience in order to carry on down this path. So often the world appears to be filled with and focused on the negativity and hardships that exist instead of the positive energy that we can all put into solving those problems and building each other up. Without the ability to spring back and refocus, it is easy to get sucked into that darkness.
For many, these past four years have been especially filled with these kinds of distractions away from working on solutions and moving in the direction of a more loving and compassionate world. Not to mention the things that happen in our personal lives that cause stress and challenge.
Although the political world in the US has been changed through this election cycle, and many are celebrating and feeling a sense of relief, there is, as always, an immense amount of work to be done. There are so many elements of our society, communities, and lives that need change and support. This work needs to begin from a place of love and kindness.
And, our resilience needs to continue to be built. We must continue to grow in our positivity and our ability to keep fighting through the negativity. We must remain strong and courageous, so we have the energy to hold each other accountable and keep moving forward. We must have practices that allow us to grow our resilience and recharge.
Resilience can be defined as, “the ability – and tendency – to ‘bounce back.’” We all have some baseline of resilience, and there are many ways to build it within your self.
Greater Good Magazine from the University of California at Berkeley published an article with these five strategies: change the narrative, face your fears, practice self-compassion, meditate, and cultivate forgiveness, and the American Psychological Association breaks down resilience growth into five different areas: fostering wellness, building your connections, finding purpose, embracing healthy thoughts, and seeking help.
These are all areas of life and strategies that we at Hallelujah Farm believe in wholeheartedly — many of which we try to foster through the retreats that we host. There are, of course, extenuating circumstances at the moment that are preventing us from hosting retreats and creating a physical space for those looking to build their resilience at the moment. But, we want to encourage you to look at what current practices you have in place to help foster your resilience.
Are you taking time to write, think, and reflect? Are you standing up and working for what you know to be right and good? Are you caring for your self — physically and mentally? Are you staying connected to others — despite the challenges of current times?
Our Hallelujah Farm Retreat blog and Facebook page both have numerous resource and ideas. Meditations from the farm, lists of other meditation resources, outreach ideas, and more.
Take the time to care for yourself, so you can also care for those around you. So you can be more resilience and put positivity, good, and change out into the world.
