Resiliency Prayer
Father,
As we step forward into a new day, we realize it is because of you that we have this opportunity to make a difference. It may have been the most difficult of journeys, watching others fall along the way, but we are reminded in Proverbs to “Give careful thought to the paths for your feet and be steadfast in all your ways,” and we will.
We thank you Father, for this opportunity to stand together against the darkness, to leave our mark on our world as we carve it and shape it in the name of your love. Galatians reminds us “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” And we will not give up.
Though the path be difficult, “I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us” (Romans) We will press onward as a testament to the resiliency of the human spirit in service to you, Father.
Let it be so.
So be it. Amen
When the whole world is running towards a cliff, he who is running in the opposite direction appears to have lost his mind.
CS Lewis, Author
Every spiritual advance that we make is preceded by a fall of some kind. It is when we are at some type of lowpoint in our life that we generate a type of energy that propels us upward and outward. All the illusions of the old systems that we thought were our world are self-destructing in front of our eyes. It’s like God is pulling the tablecloth revealing what isn’t real in our world. That can throw some into a cognitive dissonance decline and depression. The tendency is to curl up in a ball. Why am I being so morose? Because we must press onward. We cannot stop and become stagnant. We must be resilient.
Resiliency comes in many forms. It is the bounce that we make after a sweeping away of something that no longer belonged in our world. Dr. Wayne Dyer told us, “The idea that the way you were going to come out of this crisis is by just getting more credit or just spending, spending, spending. There’s really no such thing as an economy. You can’t find an economy any more than you can find strep. It’s so intertwined with every single thing that we do. So, this entire economy idea that we’re all in the sheer state of collapse because of some terrible thing that’s happening in an economy is the stuff that everybody is buying into and being afraid of. I think it’s a cleansing process. I think we’re cleaning out some of the sediment. Forest fires do that. Tsunamis do that. Nature does that. All those bad loans and bad stuff, there is something positive about it.”
M-W give the definition of resiliency as:
- The ability of something to return to its original size and shape after being compressed or deformed
- An ability to recover from or adjust easily to adversity or change : RESILIENCE
As we embrace the all important ability to overcome challenges and face life’s inevitable difficulties, we develop the ability to bounce back. We can move forward as if our life has been strengthened as stronger, smarter human beings with more self-esteem than we imagined. Seeing ourselves as survivors and being emotionally grounded with a sense of fortitude is an attribute of resilience. It requires a sense of compassion for oneself, and a centeredness that can adapt to circumstances as they come, utilizing self-assessment and problem-solving skills.
If I could offer one key to resilience, it would be to always, always, always choose the positive viewpoint. Yes we can look at what is dark, but from a position of staying in the light. Almost like we are grounded on solid rock in a heavy storm. If we determine ourselves to elicit the emotional intelligence to manage our emotions, we can always gain ground even if we get blown off course.
Being resilient offers benefit not only in the short term, but we will be better off in the long run. Life does throw setbacks our way. It is how we choose to deal with those changes that determines whether we lose ground or not. Are we using unhealthy coping mechanisms? If so, can we change that? It would make a big difference in our lives and we would be freed up to move forward with passion. Pretty soon we are tackling problems head-on and pulling up the strength to overcome adversity and move on with our lives to make them even better.
