Resilience & Pressure

 "Don't seek to be unbreakable; seek to be unstoppable. Resilient systems don't resist discomfort; they absorb, adapt, and use the added pressure to move forward with powerful momentum."

-DL

Resilience and its relationship with pressure. 

Being resilient is not about being "unbreakable” or "impenetrable".  It’s about maintaining your core strength and regulating your energy under pressure.  When your path becomes impeded or covered in potholes, we can neither ignore the dangers or power through them without a great cost.  Rather than doing either, we can navigate through the impediments and over the potholes by adapting and utilizing our own energetic suspension system. 

The Resilience Myth:  

To start, let's deconstruct some common misconceptions about resilience while discovering the art of your mental, emotional and physical suspension system:

The concept of "The Mythic Unbreakable Person" is central to our culture, however such a being is nothing more than a distortion, a shadow, a fiction.  The idea that there's a person who is immune to stress and can "power through" any difficulty without being affected,  is a dangerous myth that can lead to several negative outcomes:

1. A Cycle of Shame: When we inevitably feel stressed or defeated, this myth makes us feel like we are failing, creating a cycle of shame.

1. Discouragement from Seeking Help: Admitting a need for help is a sign of courage, not weakness, but this myth discourages us from seeking support when we need it.

1. Burnout: Constantly trying to "power through" without rest or a healthy pace depletes our mental and emotional resources, leading to burnout.

   
   

The reality is that the calm we see in truly resilient people isn't about being rigid or resisting pressure. It's about a learned ability to engage with pressure in a healthy way. They have a "personal suspension system" that allows them to absorb the inevitable bumps in the road, stay fluid, and remain grounded. They train themselves to be resilient, a process that happens away from the public eye.

Resilience is not about resistance; it's about redefining your relationship with pressure and learning to flow with challenges. It's an acknowledgment of your own personal power and adaptability.

Take a moment for some reflection:

• Has the myth of unbreakable created unrealistic expectations for you?  

• Are you moving towards burnout?

• What does resilience look like to you? Why?

A car's suspension system goes to work when it hits a pothole or rough terrain.  The suspension doesn't fight impact; it absorbs it. It moves, it compresses, and it adapts to the force, preventing the car's body and its occupants from being rattled and allowing it to continue moving forward smoothly.

Rather than becoming rigid and breaking under pressure, you become a flexible, responsive system designed to handle anything you encounter while maintaining a smooth path and calm interior.  Life will give you plenty of opportunities to work out your suspension system.  Condition yourself to look forward to it.

• Reset: This can be your first response to any impact or stressful situation. Instead of pushing harder, you deliberately pause to absorb the shock, clear your mental clutter, and prevent overreaction and overcorrection. Give yourself a moment to breathe and center.

• Refocus: Once the initial shock is absorbed, you can shift your focus moving away from the noise and back to the signal—identifying the one single, most important next step you can take. Find your stillness in the chaos.

• Ignite: With your system reset and your focus reclaimed, you're ready to turn the pressure into a source of fuel. 

The Body as Your Suspension System

Cultivating a resilient mindset is not just about mental fortitude; it's a practice deeply rooted in our physical health. Just as a high-performance suspension system absorbs the bumps in the road, a physically conditioned body and mind are better equipped to handle life's pressures.

Regular exercise serves as a powerful training ground for building resilience. It's a process of gradually putting your body under controlled stress and allowing it to adapt and grow stronger. This process mirrors how we build mental and emotional resilience. It's not about becoming unbreakable, but about becoming a flexible, responsive system.

Cultivating a resilient mindset is not just about mental fortitude; it's a practice deeply rooted in our physical health. Just as a high-performance suspension system absorbs the bumps in the road, a physically conditioned body and mind are better equipped to handle life's pressures.

Regular exercise serves as a powerful training ground for building resilience. It's a process of gradually putting your body under controlled stress and allowing it to adapt and grow stronger.

This process mirrors how we build mental and emotional resilience. It's not about becoming unbreakable, but about becoming a flexible, responsive system.