Maintaining a State of Resilience

I’m not sure about you, but I’m emotionally raw when it comes to dealing with the impact of the COVID-19 Virus.  Each evening when I watch the Evening News, I see first responders and family members who are suffering from losses of one kind or another involving loved ones.  At the same time, there are these wonderful stories of courageous people who are continuing to do their jobs on a daily basis without protective gear, like the bus driver who risks his health to continue to drive the bus to take people to the hospital. There was one particular story that really touched me.  A hospital employee who was caring for patients had now contracted the virus and was now at the point of having to be ventilated.  The hospital employee who was attending to him said to him before he was about to insert the ventilator:  “I love you Ray” and Ray responded:  “I love you too.”  I was really taken with this exchange, but the emotional swings are for me what is so heart wrenching. ​

The sequence goes from endurance to resilience in just the flash of a second.  As a result, the question for all of us becomes, how can I maintain a state of resilience in this chaotic and loss-filled environment? 
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A few weeks ago, I participated in a seminar on resilience where the facilitator suggested that in order to identify what we are grateful for, we must understand what we are fearful of.  The idea is that gratitude is what creates resilience.  The activity was to identify your fears and then reverse them by converting them into gratitude.  Here’s a partial list of my own to give you the idea:

1. I am going to run out of money and lose everything.
   Converted:  I am blessed and grateful for adequate financial resources.
2. I’ll die before I complete my legacy.
   Converted:  I am blessed with colleagues who will assist me in completing my legacy.
3. My grandchildren will catch the virus and die.
   Converted:  I am blessed and grateful for healthy grandchildren who are sheltering in place.

I think you get the idea.  So as this pandemic continues, may you be able to convert all of your fears into gratitude and blessings so that you will continue to be able to ask:  How can I be helpful to you?  How can I be there for you in this time of trial?

Remember we are all in this together.