RESILIENCE

"The highest reward for a person's toil is not what they get for it, but what they become by it." John Ruskin

There is no substitute for life experiences, putting one foot in front of the other one, day after day, year after year. It changes us, like the fire changes the molten steel. No, we didn't want that house fire, that diagnosis, that loss...but we can learn to work through it, cope, and survive regardless. Eventually we are able to look back and say, I made it when I wasn't sure I could and I'm a better person for having had the experience. Social scientists have researched the difference between the youth who make it and those that don't. One common trait of those who survive successfully is resilience.

Words Of Encouragement From Audrey Hepburn

And now a few words from one of my favorite 1960's movie star, Audrey Hepburn. "Nothing is impossible. The word itself says 'I'm possible'." 


Many do not realize what struggles Audrey Hepburn had during her child and teen years. She grew up in Europe in the Nazi occupied country, The Netherlands. Her admired slim beauty was actually a result of the nutritional deprivation she experienced during her formative years. They had to live on so little food during the war, that later when she was able eat properly her body would not process the food correctly and allow her to gain weight. In her later years, she became an avid humanitarian for the refugees around the world, because she knew too well what it was like to live as a child in a war torn country.  She remembered being so hungry they made flour from tulip bulbs to make bread. Doesn't seem possible does it?