Resilience takes many forms

Resilience originates from a Latin verb which means to rebound, to recoil or to jump back.

I’m not sure that’s what we would understand by our use of that word resilience.

But I am reminded of one of Aesop’s fables. The one about the oak tree and the reeds. Humour me for a moment, the message might not be that obvious.

On the banks of a brook stood a great oak, proud, upright and unmoving, with its hundreds of arms uplifted to the sky. And around that oak, on the riverbank, there were many thousands of reeds, which bent and swayed in the lightest of breezes.

The oak said to the reeds: “you have a reason to complain, the slightest breeze that rustles the surface of the water makes you bow your head, while I, the mighty oak, stand upright and firm before the rousing tempest.”

The reeds replied “do not worry about us, the winds do no harm, before them we bow, we move, we sway and so we do not break. You and all your pride and strength have so far resisted the wind, but your time will come.”

Soon after there was a great hurricane. The oak stood proudly and fought against the storm whilst the yielding weeds bent low. The wind redoubled in its fury and all at once the tree fell, torn up by the roots and fell amongst the unbroken reeds.

What relevance does this have today?

Many of us can stand proudly rooted to our spot, unyielding and unwilling to move. Sadly, if we take such a position the winds of change can make it difficult for us to remain upright and in control.

Resilience for us might mean that we are more like those reeds. We do not shift our position but we are smart enough to bend and sway as the world’s winds and challenges blow all around us.

Resilience is making the right decision, at the right time, for the right reasons. It is not being so rooted to a position, from which we cannot or should shift.

Being resilient may well be an ability to show composure, fighting or regulating your emotions. I know how hard that can be when faced with or affected by life’s challenges. Make sure that you remain proactive in respect of your composure. Be clear about what it is you want to achieve and remove the emotion from situations.

In doing that and ensuring that you are resilient, you may need to show creativity and reasoning; anticipating what the problems might be, working at the solutions, being resourceful and finding a way forward.

You are going to have to show some tenacity though. You are going to have to ensure that you stay at things, you don’t give up. We, as adults, know that we have to model tenacity, sending the right messages to our children and young people. Equally, we know that, in education, things are not often easily solved. We are realistic in what we believe we can achieve, yet aspirational in our expectations of our children and young people

To be resilient, like the reeds, means we’re going to need to collaborate. We are social beings. Working together is about connections and connecting. If we all put our shoulders to the granite block, it will shift.

And finally, we must think about health. Staying healthy, mentally and physically, makes an enormous difference to how we all perform. What are you eating? Are you sleeping? Are you getting regular exercise? If not, write it into your day. Write it into your working day. Make sure you take the time you need to recharge those batteries, as and when you need to.

As Oscar Wilde once said ‘Life is too important to be taken seriously.’

As Leslie Neilson, of Naked Gun fame, said ‘Doing nothing is very hard to do. You never know when you’re finished’.

And finally, and I don’t know who said this, ‘Life is short, smile while you still have teeth’.