Grow your Village, Grow your Resilience

On this wild journey called life, the relationships we forge with others have a profound impact on our well-being and personal growth.

I find that the greatest challenges and the greatest solutions are both found in the context of relationships. That difficult conversation you are putting off, the heartbreak you are still healing from, and the roadblock to your goals are all in response to being in relationship with others. After all, unless you live in the middle of nowhere, other humans are at the very least NPCs in your story. Even for those who do live in the remote areas, relationships are usually needed to acquire valuable goods, share that story of how you fought a bear (maybe…), or for emergency services when you just need to stay alive.

Still, the most meaningful moments and the greatest joy in my life have also been in the context of relationships. Funny enough, this joy is often grown in relationships with those same humans that created the challenges in my journey. Whether it was someone to talk with and flush out my thoughts, someone to rejoice with after achieving a goal, or someone to enjoy the little things in life that bring me happiness, building and sustaining these relationships serves as the firm foundation to fostering resilience.

There are storms in life. You may not see them today from the comfort of the beach. The weather may be brilliant today, but out there in the vast ocean called life there is a storm forming.

We have three options.

1. Pretend the storms are not there and be caught off guard

2. Sail around the storm and avoid it

3. Sail head on like a warrior and overcome it

Whatever you choice is (I recommend one of the last two) if you are rowing by yourself, it is very unlikely that you will make it. You may start strong and full of confidence, but the winds will pick up and the journey will become arduous. If you are rowing that boat all by yourself, your ability to bounce back from each crushing wave and the screaming winds will quickly dwindle.

However, when your village joins you on this voyage, the adversity is but the setting of a hero’s journey that you will later share around the fire. When anxiety creeps in at seeing the monstrous waves of life or when your strength is depleted through the journey, those who are rowing besides you will sustain you. They will shout encouraging songs at the top of their lungs, they will be shoulder to shoulder with you, they will hold your place while you recover to persevere.

We were not meant to voyage alone. We need our village as much as our village needs us.

Who is in your boat today?

Who do you want to invite on this journey?

Whose journey are you joining or on?