The Three Secrets of Resilient People

Yesterday I pulled a book off of my bookshelf to loan a friend, and out fell a folded piece of paper. I opened it to find a neatly organized page containing lists of intentions from my 40-year old self. My endless attempts at organizing my life. The paper was divided into three categories: intentions for me, for my children and for my husband. Yikes! But the encouraging part of this little memory was that as I reviewed the list I saw that most of the intentions have been realized.

Now, at 60+ I have a tendency to reflect on my life as a constant series of distractions and disruptions, all keeping me from living the life I intend. The John Lennon affect. I have felt that in so many ways I have been thrown off the trail of meeting my intentions. And yet, there it was in black and white. And looking back on them I had to acknowledge that they were, even in the face of the distractions and disruptions, largely met. Maybe not in the way I had visualized at the time. But still realized. And, I dare to say, possibly, they were realized because of the disruptions and distractions.

And isn’t our current situation with COVID19 the MOTHER of all disruptions and distractions? I still lament. But a friend sent over this video of Lisa Hone’s Ted talk The Three Secrets of Resilient People, and I just had to share it. Lisa was traveling down the road of self-realization, the place on Maslow’s hierarchy I often long for, when tragedy completely disrupted all of her plans.

And yet.

I’ll let her tell the rest.

But in her story I found the sweet reality about living a life which doesn’t follow our prescribed path, but instead offers us a new way, a different way, into our soul’s longing.