Attitude of Resilience

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Transcript

Resilience is the ability to bounce back under difficult circumstances. Sometimes that’s simple, but most of the time it’s complicated, isn’t it?
Let’s do this sitting meditation to help us all be more resilient
At home, at work, out in the world.

Get yourself comfortable
Sitting in any way that allows you to relax
To not be busy, just for this time.

Bringing yourself to be in this place
Where you are
Where we are
together
This moment
This time
Let’s take a few breaths together
Deep breaths from the belly
Up to the top of the head
Filling your body with hope
With energy
Allowing the energy to reside within you
Feeling it fill you with love, with warmth
Your breath returning to its normal pace
Taking a moment to just settle in
Coming into stillness
This morning is all about resilience
The ability to bounce back from adversity
Rubber ball analogy (I’ll explain)
Think of a rubber ball.
The ball is thrown against the concrete
It doesn’t resist, it changes shape
It adapts to it’s circumstances
And then it uses the energy of the impact to leap back up into the sky again
Sometimes we get caught up in our own suffering
We hold it tight
it prevents us from bouncing back as quickly as we might
In this time of radical uncertainty we hold onto the fear, the struggle, the wishing things were different
What we learn from the rubber ball is that we can bounce back, but only if we allow the reality to fully be present
To not struggle against it,
or Hold ourselves tightly and resist
but to let that energy empower us
To move in whatever direction we need to move next
Think of a time you were sure you weren’t going to achieve something
A girlfriend or boyfriend
A job
Winning an argument
You play it over and over in your head,
Ruminating
Arguing ahead of time
Projecting failure that might come
Dragging yourself down with suffering
And then you got the job, the girl, you made your point and won the argument
Was it worth it?
All that suffering?
How did it feel when you did reach the goal?
We become resilient when we realize that not everything goes badly
Each time we stumble or even fail and get back up to do it again and again until we succeed?
We are training ourself in resilience
It doesn’t have to hurt to teach us
When we are down we can look around for the beauty in the world
Music
Or The smile of a friend
If you can’t find anything?
Take a few breaths to get out of your head
Ask yourself
Is there really no joy here?
Then look for something to smile about
Think of something to bring your joy back
You’d be amazed how a simple smile can turn everything around
It’s a physical reaction as much as it in your head
Now you can look at the situation with hope
With resilience
There’s a prayer
Every day
In every way
I’m getting better and better
Repeat with me
It’s true you know.
We choose to be resilient when we choose to know that the suffering of the moment is only in this moment
Everything changes
We need only notice the change happening
Observe it
Be curious about what is driving it
How does it feel to bounce back?
Bring to mind a time you triumphed when you didn’t think you could
Large, small, it doesn’t matter
Take a breath
With your hand on your belly
And on your heart
Breath in the feeling of resilience
Of surviving
Of success
Of love
Of beauty
Of joy
Of knowing that the world is still turning
The clouds still drifting in the sky
What are you thankful for right now
In this moment?
Let’s sit with that for a moment
Cherish it
Relish it
Save it in your memory
For the next time you need it
We are all resilient
more that we think
Breathing in I breath in strength
Breathing out I release worry, doubt and fear
Repeat
Let us bring back into the world
Our friends, our families
An attitude of resilience
Of accepting that we do not know
What we cannot know
And that we go through this world together
In our hearts

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