Resilience is about advancing despite adversity. Some say Resilience is the ability to “bounce back” from difficult challenges. Resilience is also about adapting to change easily while maintaining a good attitude.
We have been Married and Entrepreneurs for 38 years. We have gone through some of the toughest challenges out there like adoption, a child with cancer, suicide, death of loved ones and more…like self-employed and losing hundreds of thousands of dollars in investments.
Trait #1 – Sincere Service
The brain tumor would require immediate surgery and a six-week hospital stay. Radiation would begin the following week each day for an additional six weeks. Chemotherapy would start before radiation was through and it would take nine months to complete the chemotherapy regimen prescribed. This began an unbelievable trip through everything from despair and anguish to fear and disbelief. It created chaos and stress while racking up unbelievable medical bills and 180 nights that my son and I slept at Primary Children’s Hospital in eleven months!
This was a time of extreme overwhelm and frustration and yet at the same time, we were able to experience peace, joy and love in a huge way as we implemented and lived two of the traits I teach. As we lived our lives from Gratitude and as we learned a new way to SHOW Sincere Service it began to create a way for our own nightmare to become livable. We were able to see beyond ourselves and as we embraced doing for others, our heavy weight was lifted! I share our signature story of a Mylar balloon and our willingness to do Service, no matter what was going on for us and how our lives were changed by this.
What I can tell you is that this was not the end of our trials, but rather more like the beginning. This was our first fight with cancer for our son Jesse and was not the last. In fact the second fight came at the age of 25 for him. He broke his back and 10 weeks later was diagnosed with another brain tumor. This brain tumor was committed. It grew back twice! He had to have 3 surgeries in just 5 months.
Trait #2 – Genuine Gratitude
If you want more abundance in your life, find Gratitude. Embrace Gratitude with every part of yourself. Have an Attitude of Gratitude in everything you do. Attitudes are contageous…..is your attitude worth catching? Let’s think about that. Are people attracted to you and do you have an abundance of friends and clients that are thrilled to be with you? Take a look at your attitude.
I want you to know that it is very important to have Generic Gratitude. We are a blessed Nation. As a people we have more than over 80% of the world, yet we always want more, right? Without Gratitude for what we have right now, we will not be able to attract more. So, make sure that you have Gratitude in all things. These things are easy to have gratitude for that we sometimes take them for granted.
Now, I want you to consider what I call Genuine Gratitude. This is much tougher to be grateful for. This comes when we are truly grateful for the Trials and Challenges in our life. CRAZY, right? NO! When we are truly grateful for our struggles through challenges and trials and are open to learning the lessons being taught, we grow. We will learn and grow so much faster if we will be grateful for our tough times. These times are here to teach us and if we will embrace it, learn from it and be grateful, truly grateful, our trials will not be such a burden. It is when we will embrace our struggles, look outside of ourselves and see what others are suffering from, that we realize that everyone is going through tough things, and we are all handling it at different levels.
My challenge to you is to learn how to have Genuine Gratitude for your trials just as you would your blessings and fully embrace happiness for yourself, even amidst your toughest times. I have lived it both ways, and what I have found is that when you have Gratitude while struggling through difficulties your life becomes truly blessed. Others will reach out to you and assist you and you will find that the perfect things start to surround you. When you have gratitude, others see your value and step up for you in ways you never thought possible.
Trait #3 – Lasting Love
- Discrimination, racism, inequality, prejudice
- Love that lasts no matter what.