POSITIVE RESOURCEFULNESS: STRUGGLE BUILDS STRENGTH

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I recalled one dawn when I had chanced upon a butterfly’s cocoon in a pine tree at the very moment when the husk was breaking and the inner soul was preparing to emerge.
I kept waiting and waiting; it was slow and I was in a hurry. Leaning over it, I began to warm it with my breath. I kept warming it impatiently until the miracle commenced to unfold before my eyes at an unnatural speed.  

The husk opened completely; the butterfly came out. But never shall I forget my horror: its wings remained curled inward, not unfolded. The whole of its minuscule body shook as it struggled to spread the wings outward. But it could not. As for me, I struggled to aid it with my breath. In vain.  

What it needed was to ripen and unfold patiently in sunlight. Now it was too late. My breath had forced the butterfly to emerge ahead of time, crumpled and premature. It came out undeveloped, shook desperately, and soon died in my palm. 

This butterfly’s fluffy corpse is, I believe, the greatest weight I carry on my conscience. What I understood deeply on that day was this: to hasten eternal rules is a mortal sin. One’s duty is confidently to follow nature’s everlasting rhythm. (Nikos Kazantzakis (2014), Zorba the Greek (Simon & Schuster))

In Chinese lore, bamboo is revered for its great strength, flexibility, ability to flourish in the harshest of Winters. Bamboo comes through Winter being stronger afterwards than at the onset. We too tend to learn most and grow stronger as a result of the most difficult of times.

Resilience is the positive resourcefulness of people to cope with disappointments, stress, adversity and change – both gentle, and catastrophic. To bounce back. And show grit and stay-ability.

We offer a unique and proven hardiness assessment and self-determination tools as practical aids to building and maintaining resilience. It was developed by Drs Allen Zimbler and Caryn Solomon, who drew on early work by Dr Suzanne Kobasa.  

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