Tag Archives: Resilience

Switch up your stress story

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Switch up your stress story.

—Calm App Reflection

Image from Unsplash by Elisa Ventur

To what degree do you feel like you are at a breaking point?  Where are the levels of personal and professional stress having a negative impact on your physical and mental health?

I recently visited the Corning Museum of Glass in Corning, New York. Of particular interest was a glass breaking exhibition in which various types of glass were put to the test. Over the years of use and development of this miraculous material, engineers and scientists have come up with numerous processes to make glass far stronger and resistant to breakage.

EXERCISE:

Where are you being tempered and heat treated through various life experiences? How can you view these events and the stories you tell about them as opportunities for greater growth and resilience?

Older now, you find holiness in anything that continues

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“Older now, you find holiness in anything that continues.”

—Naomi Shihab Nye, American Poet

Image from Alaska native news

Gary Muehlberger, who recently passed, was a featured character in the National Geographic show Port Protection.  Well into his 70s, this white-haired, no-nonsense man looked a bit like a skinny Santa.  He lived in an Alaskan community of people who live life on their own terms, hunting, fishing, and gathering many of the resources they need from the land and sea.

Gary was a jack of many trades. He owned a fishing boat build in 1919 which he used for catching salmon. This bucket-of-bolts required frequent attention and repairs by himself and other handy folks in his community, but kept chugging along and fed him for many years, body and soul.

EXERCISE:

What have you noticed about the aging process in yourself and others these past few years?

How have you come to more fully acknowledge and appreciate the resilience and enduring qualities within yourself and your communities?