Facets of Resilience

We are all resilient beings, though perhaps unaware of just how much our resilience influences our lives.  Resilience is acknowledged as the power that carries us through those tough times but it has so many more facets.

Many of us have had past experiences that we faced unexpectedly.  In those cases, we were forced to choose from the paths before us and resiliently push through the situation.  We were forced by life to choose from the best of what was available to get through the difficulty.

There is another type of resilience – the resilience to create your path and choose the direction you wish to move in, instead of reacting to life.Resilience

Part of exercising our resilience is to consciously create our lives.  It is easy to stay the current path and only create change when life forces it on us unexpectedly.  For example, perhaps you feel your eating habits are poor at this moment but as your life routine is already set, there is no impetus to change your eating. However, your body disagrees – you find yourself with a diagnosis. You then change your eating habits.     

Instead, what if we call on our resilience and choose before we are forced to make the change.  Creating that change, whatever it may be, is always hard, uncomfortable, and often scary.  That is where our resilient beings support us.  We create the change because we decided we needed to, instead of waiting for something to trigger that change by force.

Make a list of things in your life you would like to change.  Perhaps it is your eating habits, or the neglecting of your being, your body or mind.

Look at each thing on this list.  What would it take to create the change you desire for each item on your list?   Using a scale from one to ten, with one being the lowest value, and ten being the highest, answer the following for each item on your list:

  • How disruptive would it be to create change?
  • How much of a positive impact would creating this change have on your life?
  • Picture your life after you have implemented this change. What is the dominant emotion that comes to you without thinking? 

If the positive impact and emotion are greater than the disruption, it is time to resiliently forge ahead and make a change.

You are a resilient being.  You have the power to create a change, and the resilience to act on it.  You are a fierce, powerful being who has thrived through resilience. I challenge you to create your life, moment by moment, choice by choice.

How are you leaning on your resilience to create your life?  Share in the comments.

Many Blessings,

Santa

 

RUNNING THROUGH DARKNESS
MEMOIR OF A SPIRITUAL WARRIOR

BY SANTA MOLINA-MARSHALL ‧ RELEASE DATE: MAY 3, 2022

This debut memoir chronicles a woman’s spiritual exploration and growth as she overcame a disturbing childhood and helped others heal.

Brought to America from the Dominican Republic as a youngster, Molina-Marshall should have led a happy life. Her father was a diligent worker, and his large family wanted for nothing. But the author recounts that her dad had a drinking problem and was a serial philanderer. Molina-Marshall’s long-suffering mother left him for a woman. Then it was all downhill for the bright, 12-year-old girl, who was shuttled between foster care and relatives. According to the author, she was sexually abused by the husband of one of her siblings. This resulted in Molina-Marshall becoming alienated and moody. By 15, she simply tried to survive. In her favor were grit and a restless intelligence. She quit school, rented a room, and found a factory job. Time went by, and for a while she was happily married. Yet when her husband left her, her life truly began. She turned to religion for answers but decided that blaming God for her woes was a cop-out. 

In this absorbing and moving memoir, Molina-Marshall’s vivid storytelling is fearless. She frankly discusses the truths she discovered and the indignities she suffered. These admissions are disclosed with a touch of resignation and plenty of bite. However painful, everything she experienced was a lesson, and she bravely realized that she was part of the problem: “The fear of being hurt, rejected, or abused often led to me feeling lonely and misunderstood. No one knew the agonizing pain I felt being trapped in my thoughts and anger. I was becoming my biggest threat.” 

The author skillfully recounts her intricate spiritual journey. To deal with her psychic wounds, she searched for an inspirational system. Her open-mindedness led her to the interfaith concept—cherry-picking from various religions and spiritual movements, yoga, and Indigenous beliefs as a way of finding peace. Along with her female partner, she built a therapy practice, making use of every spiritual element that aided her and others. The road was bumpy, and she found that women of color in same-sex relationships were not welcomed everywhere. To do good works—and finally live on her own terms—she effectively overcame bigotry.

An engrossing, cathartic account of empathy and success through determination and confidence.

Pub Date: May 3, 2022   |    ISBN: 978-0-578-38315-6  |   Page Count: 264    | Publisher: From Trauma to Triumph  |   Review Posted Online: June 13, 2022