I have never been one to have a word that sums up their year, but this year, I do and that word is Resilience. The definition of resilience is: “the capacity to recover quickly from difficulties; toughness, elasticity.” Can you relate? It has been a painful year for our Country, it is divided instead of united in many ways. The pandemic is surging just in time for the holidays, a time when we want to be around friends and family.
The isolation has been the hardest thing for me personally. I am already somewhat isolated since I work from home, so I have always needed to get out and be amongst people to help me cope with the isolation of my job. I am an introvert by nature but I love my friends and people in general, they are fascinating and inspiring. We need fellowship, we all do - introverts and extroverts alike. We cannot do life alone, we need each other. I hope 2020 has taught me to never take fellowship ever for granted again. To not take for granted seeing everyone’s smiles.
I work in customer service for an airline and it is probably one of the worst times to have a job in customer service. People are frazzled, depressed, angry, discouraged, scared, panicked, and sometimes, entitled. Many think they have a right to get what they want and they are not kind in their approach to attempting to get that. The entitled and angry people put a real damper in enjoying my job, but it also makes the kind people stand out all the more and make me grateful for them. I also get the opportunity to bond with people going through really hard things.
The other day I got a gal needing to change her ticket, she had just found out her husband wanted a divorce. She had found out he was cheating and confronted him with the evidence and he went off on her and demanded a divorce. I felt so bad for her, she said she just needed one more day to process what was going to happen. I was able to help her out and we had a connection. I told her a bit about what I had been through and about our Non Profit. By the end of the call she was crying and gushing about how thankful she was that she got me on the phone. I was able to offer her some encouragement and hope. That is when I enjoy what I do, but unfortunately not every call or chat is like that.
I am burned out with a Capitol B and have been looking for a less stressful job for my own sanity. I had some opportunities that looked really promising. I had a second interview and I felt qualified and excited about the job. When I got the email that told me they went with another candidate, I was more than a little disappointed. I had to put into practice what God keeps putting before me this year, that word R E S I L I E N C E. I cannot control not being hired, all I can do is my best pursuit and preparation. I definitely had to nudge my thinking toward resilience and not let it stay in a self-defeating mode.
The most resilient people see change and hardship as an opportunity rather than a monster to fear. Resiliency begs us to ask ourselves questions like: “How do you really want to spend your time on earth? What’s really important to you? Where do you see yourself wasting your time and energy?” It has pushed me to persevere and strive for what really matters to me. Working on this Non Profit fuels my passion. It makes everything I have been through in life have a purpose and meaning.
When I was researching this topic I came across a more in depth definition of resilience: “Resilience is the quality of being able to adapt to stressful life changes and “bouncing back” from hardship. Resilience is a response to tragedy, crisis, or other life-altering changes that allows us to move on despite the loss. Showing resilience does not mean that a person is unaffected or uncaring about the life change. Resilience is the human heart’s ability to suffer greatly and grow from it......We observe personal resilience every day in people who suffer handicaps, deaths of loved ones, and other losses. When people refuse to give up on themselves and the world, even after misfortune, they are being resilient.
Resilience is the biblical norm for Christians. The Bible contains many admonitions to press on (Philippians 3:13–15), overcome hardship and temptation (Romans 12:21), and persevere in the face of trials (James 1:12). It also gives us numerous examples of people who suffered greatly but continued to follow God’s plan for their lives. Proverbs 24:16 could be seen as the theme verse for the resilient: “Though the righteous fall seven times, they rise again, but the wicked stumble when calamity strikes.” (From gotquestions.org)
We all are ready for the pandemic to be over, to be able to fellowship and see each other’s smiles. Another phone connection I had was a sweet woman who told me that since she has to wear a mask, she feels disconnected and unnecessarily distanced by people. She went on to explain that her nationality makes her feel judged and unaccepted by people, but that her smile was her best feature that diffuses peoples judgements of her, but now her smile is hidden under her mask. My heart went out to her and I told her I could “see her” kind personality even though I could not physically see her.
I hope if anything we have learned in 2020 is the skill of resilience and to truly see each other, something we just all too easily take for granted. Here is to a optimistic and hopeful 2021!