Road to Resilience!

With a higher level of energy and improving health, I initially thought I was not productive. However, I found that my activities and work hours this month exceeded those of other months. Sometimes, without a record, I can’t know anything for sure because the comparison is not with actual things but with perceptions from the energy level and mental acuity I have.

This month is not perfect, but it’s the best month in my life since my first COVID infection. This morning, I found an interesting TEDx talk. I listened to it three times to really understand the three tips the speaker provided for resilience. They are:

1. Why not me?
2. Choose carefully where we direct our attention.
3. Is what I’m doing helping or harming me?

Grief, pain, and suffering are universal, and bad things are not only happening to us. Therefore, instead of thinking about “why me”, we should accept the situation and think “why not me”. Another point is to focus on the brighter sides of life such as gratitude and the good things that are still with us. Sometimes, we dwell in our own sorrows and cannot see the real good things left in our lives, and therefore, miss them too. The last question is a simple one to ask for everything we choose to do.

After listening to it three times, I remembered The Top Five Regrets of the Dying and revisited the findings. They are:

1. I wish I’d had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me.
2. I wish I hadn’t worked so hard.
3. I wish I’d had the courage to express my feelings.
4. I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends.
5. I wish I had let myself be happier.

I think I have been contemplating these since I first read an article that mentioned them. It helped me to be truer to myself and have the courage to express my feelings more. Now I think I should let myself be happier.

I know I derive happiness in a slightly different way than most people. I should fully accept that part of me and need to be comfortable in my own skin. 

These are my thoughts this evening.

image created with an AI