Get Reslient

                                                           
How fixing  stuff  makes us feel better.
 

WTF is Resilience?  I get asked this all the time.
 
And, What's the point of Resilience?
 
Do we really need to know how to do things?
After all, we can get just about anything done for us these days - a couple of swipes and someone turns up...
 
Well maybe it's all becoming just too easy, too superficial, too remote?
We're falling into the trap of thinking we don't have enough time to do things, to learn things, to make things. We need that time.... to peer into a blue screen.
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How many times have you watched someone, doing, making, fixing things and thought,  "I wish I could do that"?
It doesn't need to be building a concert piano - it just life stuff. Useful stuff. Things our grandparents did all the time. Things that were commonplace and have now become jobs for specialists. Or simple things we've just forgotten how to do.
 
We don't need to do everything - only some things. Stuff that gets us interested, engaged and engages our kids, our family, our people.
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Learning practical skills re-connects you - with tradition, history and the rhythms of the planet. You connect through your hands to materials and tools and you gain the confidence to use them. Then you connect with those around you,
You move from being a bystander in life to an active participant - and its infectious.
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You can live a very productive and satisfying life by learning a few fairly straightforward skills and techniques - and nowadays we have the luxury of choosing which ones. Apart from saving a pile of money, you feel better physically, mentally and emotionally by actually doing stuff for yourself.
You don't need to be a skilled artisan or technician - you just have to be competent to the level of your needs. Whether it's making your garden better, fixing things around the house, learning traditional skills, or even aspiring to go completely off-grid, you can stand back and say, "I did that, we did that."
 
It's about reclaiming your power to do things for yourself. About becoming less dependent on others and more self-reliant.
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Of course, there are obviously safety related tasks that you can't do for yourself unless you're qualified, like gas installation for example, but not many.
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Apart from that, most things that seem overwhelmingly complicated can be broken down into simple steps and principles. And if you have someone to show you how, then you can confidently do it yourself. Even rocket science can be broken down into simple steps.
 
That's what we do at Highland Resilience. It's not about teaching. It's about empowerment.
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So resilience isn't just a skill-set; it's an attitude.
 
It's "I can find out, I can learn, this isn't that difficult, I can do it myself!"
 
You don't need to live out in the woods; you just develop the feeling of self-reliance, which ripples out to all parts of your life. It’s about being able to handle change much better, to see the future with less anxiety - it's a state of mind.
And it’s a great thing. 
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You come to a point where doing stuff - achieving things - allows you to relax and really unwind. When you concentrate and make time to do something worthwhile it seems to open up a space for relaxing your mind. It’s like getting to the top of a hill, sitting down for a rest and taking in the beauty of the view.
In fact resilience is just as much about nourishing your soul as it is coping with your environment. Strategies for mental resilience are as every bit as important, and whilst they develop as you learn to do things, they can be taught too, which is a whole new and exciting field.
 
So what’s the formula for resilience?
 
It goes like this:

• Get real about your problems.

                           - “I can’t do anything,” becomes “I can learn!”

• Be grateful for what you can do or could do.

 

• Relax and find a way to develop skills.

 

• Get the empowerment.

 

• Then plan what you’re going to do.

 
 
 
So, stop relying on other people's skills, develop your own, pass them on and be resilient.
 
You can do it.
 
 
Grant Pirnie               www.highlandresilience.co.uk