Struggle and pain are part of the life journey we are on. Challenges, problems and issues are necessary for our growth and development. Ick! I know! Brene Brown talks about how when hard things come up in our life creating a hope practice is hugely important. “We need hope like we need air.” Having a strong belief in what we can accomplish, visioning, thinking through pathways and being intentional about setting goals are all important tools.
Embracing and practicing resilience is a stepping stone and a super powerful tool for curating and nurturing hope in our lives. Martin Seligman’s research came up with the 3 Ps.
1. Personalization. When we go to the place of hopelessness and despair we often make ourselves wrong and think it’s our problem. Embracing the bigger picture and noticing the overall context can allow us to shift our perspective.
2. Permanence. Despair and hopelessness leads us to thinking that our struggle will never end, this is a “tomorrow will be no different from today” Mental Equivalent or mind set. When we practice thinking about the temporary nature of challenges of looking at daily adversity, it builds the muscle for the big stuff. “Will this be a big deal in five minutes? Five hours? Five days? Five months? Five years?” This gets us out of fear-based thinking.
3. Pervasiveness. We often jump to the conclusion that the current struggle or challenge has colored or stained all parts of our life! Life is so hard! The re-frame is to take a step back and to observe and witness this from the big picture. Envision yourself in a jet airplane flying over at 30,000 feet! What does the situation look like now? Brene Brown-Atlas Of The Heart
“In the midst of this planetary upheaval, I believe that the path of the Initiate (People pursuing Growth and Development) is to live upward despite what might be occurring in the external environment and to find the treasures within. Furthermore, an Initiate must forge the capacity to think and feel on her own, and use these abilities as a means to navigate through the conditions and situations of life—never losing sight of those spiritual treasures. That’s the path.” Tomkenyon.com