RESILIENCE

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~ as written by Linda Kavelin Popov
Virtues Project Reflection Cards

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MY TWO SENSE:

As I travel through the experiences of my life I see the lessons in everything. What jumps right off the page at me when I read the resilience card is "I find comfort in community." I feel truly blessed to have that comfort in The Virtues Project. What a gift it is to be part of a community that respects, loves and is compassionately focused on growth and healing. What freedom this brings to my heart and mind. It enables me to grow and explore the vastness of who I am. In contrast, the alternative creates a way of living in varying degrees of fear and denial. I live on both sides of this spectrum and I wish to encourage the world to consider adopting the family of virtues. 

As an example: awhile back, I mistakenly goofed something up I was responsible for. I held on tightly to worrying (fear based) and brewed about how I could possibly move beyond the mistake, how I could make amends. When fear began to really grip me, I decided to address my mistake and reap the consequences. As I prepared for the disclosure, I was met with giant butterflies, overwhelming anxiety that felt more like a desire to jump off a bridge, and the well-known all consuming dreaded unknown. What happened next was an amazing gift. As I confessed, I was greeted with compassion and curiosity. I was offered olive branches with each loving question that allowed me to delve deeper into the bigger truth. I was encouraged to find the gifts from the experience, embrace the wisdom within myself and allow OUR forgiveness' to make amends. The difference being, I entered the conversation in an exhausted state of self-inflicted anxiety preparing to flee and I left in a state of grace, resilience and openness. 

Every moment from the time I began my confession, I was loved. I was encouraged. I was honoured. I was gently and carefully taken (by my beautiful community) to the edge of reality and allowed to look beyond the entrapment of guilt, remorse and blame. I am encouraged to accept the gifts from the experience and set a course for the future. This awareness however comes as a double edged sword. Now I am increasingly aware of the actions of others in my life who do not subscribe to this "way of being." Today I am calling on courage to embrace resilience and the faith I need to face the experiences that appear, in contrast, like attacks.