The Tribune

By MICHELLE MILLER

One thing that is predictable about life is its certain unpredictability. This unpredictability is what makes life the ultimate adventure.

When you see life as a fluid not static experience you learn to take the bitter with the sweet. With its constant serving of colourful challenges life tells us point blank that we need to build resilience if we desire to bounce back from any setback.

Here are three key points that I’ve come to accept about life: one, change is its nature; two, everything changes, and three, there are no safe spaces to hide from change.

Nothing will hit harder than life. It comes at you hard and fast, yet it is an indelible dance of joy and pain. While we love the joy, it’s those difficult, heartbreaking and painful moments that give us the greatest challenge.

Having resilience teaches you that it doesn’t matter what happens, but how well you respond to what happens. The confidence to respond with a sense of ability is what we mean by taking responsibility. In this sense of ability, resilience is an active ingredient.

If you’re like many others having avoided taking responsibility then this is where the rubber meets the road. Without an increased resilience to weather the storms of life, bouncing back becomes delayed, if not impossible.

To put it bluntly, everybody needs resilience. No matter who you are, where you’re from, what you’ve done, your education or social status, you need resilience.

When life throws us a storm, everyone is affected, directly or indirectly. Bob Marley said it best, “Cuz when the rain falls, it don’t fall on one man’s house top.”

You see, life levels its playing field and nobody is exempt from life’s uncertainties. We are all in the same boat. As a card-carrying member of the human race I believe it is critical to accept this truth and get busy building resilience to bounce back and keep it moving.

How resilient are you? Make no mistake about it, building resilience is easier said than done.

The reality is the vast majority of us are not physically, socially, emotionally or psychologically prepared to meet life challenges or manage adversities. Rather than facing our problems with a sense of confidence to deal with them, we often give up and surrender to the feeling of helplessness.

But you can change this position. By building your resilience you can bounce back from any setback and experience your life from a more confident disposition. Taking time to build your resilience profoundly improves how well you manage and navigate your setbacks.

Having had to face major challenges early on in my life I developed a strong sense of resilience to not only meet life challenges, but to navigate and resolve them with confidence.

There’s no question that this empowering disposition is the result of my willingness to take personal responsibility; not only for my life but for my mother and siblings who were depending on me to lead.

You can do it, too. You can bounce back from any adversity if you are willing to be responsible for building your resilience. Every obstacle embodies an opportunity. Similarly, every adversity injects empowering fuel into your storehouse of resilience. See your adversities as the means through which you boost your confidence and inner strength.

Leader to leader, commit to building your resilience. You will be better able to cut through those inevitable adversities of life with a stronger sense of confidence. Make today the day that you begin to build your resilience. It is the active ingredient to live an empowered life.

What do you think? Please send your comments to coaching242@yahoo.com or 429-6770.

• Michelle M Miller is a certified life coach and leadership expert. Visit www.michellemmiller.com or send mail to PO Box CB-13060