On Resilience

Life has ups and down but you don't need a watermelon to tell you that. The variety is a good thing I suppose. But sometimes when you're down, it can feel like the worst moments you've ever experienced. The thought of something so bad happening that it has a permanent, irreparable impact on my life is probably enough to send me into the rescue position with hyperventilating fits because time is something you can't take back. And when something can't be undone, that's something you have to live with for the rest of your life. So I walk around with this mentality where I won't allow myself to make the wrong decisions (even though I still make plenty of them) or do anything wrong in order to minimise any negative impact. Unfortunately, that means I'm extremely guarded and pessimistic. And when something does go wrong, it hits me very hard.

Just as a very facile and small-scale example, I was at work the other night and it was the worst shift I've had since I've been there. I won't go into the details of what I do and what exactly happened but basically, I could get into a lot of trouble if I don't get certain things done. But it was one of those days where absolutely everything that was out of my control went wrong. I knew that I was going to be the mark of some scathing and colourful linguistic missiles, which I really wasn't looking forward to. I was in a constant state of agitation and stress, anticipating the lions pouncing on me and ripping me to shreds. It was like waiting for a death sentence. Even though I really did everything could, lo and behold, towards the end of my shift, the missiles came flying and hit me square bulls-eye right between the eyes. It was, at that moment, the worst few hours I've ever experienced.

But when it was time to leave (and boy, was I happy to leave!), a question sprang to mind: despite having some of the worst few hours in my life, what lasting effect did it really have on me? It got me thinking that maybe sometimes we tend to exaggerate the significance of negative occurrences. That's not to say we do it intentionally to cause drama. While you're experiencing it, the bad times really do feel like you're free-falling down a dark hatchway towards your death. But it occurred to me that maybe people are unaware of the strength and resolve they have and utilise, perhaps subconsciously, to help them fight their way through tough times. Perhaps it's a survival, self-preservation instinct that kicks into action.

I know my example is a superficial and inane one to use to demonstrate the integrity of human resolution and tenacity. But he bottom line is it that humans are, by nature, strong, resilient and driven creatures. And maybe there aren't that many things that we can't get through.