Growing stronger is more satisfying than just hanging in


Photo by Ivan Babiy at scop.io
Are you hanging in? There's a sense these days of life suspended - I mean both that it feels like we have been left hanging and that we have been shut out of our real lives for an unspecified amount of time (probably much longer than you hope as your fingertips begin to bleed).

Some people have lost their work and some are overwhelmed by work. Some are trying to be full time parent/teachers/caregivers while also doing their day jobs. As if. They are quickly becoming their evening into night-time jobs too. They don't have a choice about their circumstances.

They do have a choice about how to respond, and so do you. You can hang in there and hope that you will adapt (or that life will go back to normal before you have to adapt). Or you can recognize that many, many changes are coming, and you can start developing the strength and flexibility to build a life that satisfies you, no matter what happens.

If you've read this blog before, you know which option I am going to recommend. I'm determined to grow stronger, and I'm doing it through learning. Since the lockdown began in Ontario, I've guided college classes through an online end-of-term; I've transitioned my NLP community to online programs, and I've written my first published book. Each of these made me feel like I was hanging on a ledge until I found I was building the right muscles for them.

If it's time for you to stop hanging and start growing stronger, you'll need to do two things: 1) find information worth learning and 2) practice using it to add to your awareness and choices. My new book, Resilience: Grow Stronger in a Time of Crisis is out today and provides both the information and the ways to practice. You can get the Kindle version immediately or wait until next week for a paperback copy (ignore the "out of stock" message - the printed versions are on their way). By next week, I'll also be able to link to Indigo.

You can also join me online if you can make the timing work. All our programs are listed in Eastern Standard Time (Toronto). I'm offering free programs every week (two a week until the beginning of June) so that I can give as many people as possible a hand to get them off the edge so they can grow the strengths that will make them feel better and do better.

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