NEW LOOK, SAME TEAM
Blog Post
Discovering Resiliency While We Grieve Normal Life
Nancy MacLachlan • Apr 16, 2020
How can I find strength in the middle of this?
For the past few weeks, I have been amazed and inspired by the creativity of people around the globe.
The truth is, we are all dealing with grief. The loss of our normal, routine lives, and the security that comes with that predictability. The drastic and sudden changes have impacted each of us uniquely and it can be a struggle to get our feet back on solid ground.
Yet, hard times, suffering and uncertainty all challenge us to stretch our mental muscles. Some of those have laid dormant for years. Maybe you're exercising the muscle of compassion, or the muscle of patience and tolerance. These stem from the primary muscle of resilience--that ability to find strength in difficulty.
You may not feel strong right now. You may feel depleted and lost in it all. But in the middle of this your brain is finding new pathways to cope and survive. Being forced to slow down, to stand still, to think, gives us the opportunity to discover aspects of ourselves that we didn’t even realize were there. Being forced out of our comfort zones has brought us to a space where creativity and wonder can emerge.
Which muscles of resilience are you exercising?
Ask yourself these questions:
How am I doing things differently? Maybe your work or home routines have changed. Perhaps you have had to change a care routine.
What new skills have I needed to learn? Did you overcome technical difficulties? Do you feel like you've had to re-learn how to gather food?
How have I adapted to a new routine?
Have you managed to shuffle your schedule to fit a new lifestyle?
What ways have I stayed connected? Maybe you are video calling family members. Maybe gabbing over the fence with neighbours.
These are a few signs that you are indeed stretching those muscles of resilience. Isn't it amazing how humans are able to adapt during difficulty?
It is a lesson we can take with us into the future, when life shuffles back into familiar patterns, that by pushing ourselves out of our comfort zones, we can discover ways to recognize our grief and to grow through the journey.
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Nancy is an Occupational Therapist who provides psychotherapy at Lindsay Tsang and Associates. If you would like to book with her you can click here
or call our 24/7 line at 705-300-0077.
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