Resilience.

“Tough” and “resilient” used to mean the same thing to me. Plotting revenge on my older brother after a punch up, seething and blindsided by a need to hurt back, I saw myself as tough, strong and capable.

Looking back, I was just sh#t scared with no clue how to work with my fear.

I’d transfer feeling scared into getting angry and sure, I put up a good fight, but none of these behaviours set me up well later on in life. In a recent post on the old ig, I said that feelings are our best feedback mechanism. Growing up Asian gave me many great things, emotional bandwidth wasn’t one of them.

So that’s where all of my practices thread back to. Acknowledging my feelings. Understanding them. Having the guts to declare them. Never been easy for me, still isn’t at times.

Given the devastation of current times - the attack on Ukraine, the devastating floods here in my own country - it feels a bit rich talking feelings.

But it’s important. Ignoring the suffering that surrounds us won’t protect us, and it sure doesn’t make a difference. We don’t have to wallow in the swamp of suffering, but the feedback we receive from empathising with those going through turmoil can arouse generosity, gratitude and greater human understanding.

From that open heart space, we might give ourselves permission to also feel joy and spring back a little easier.

We might experience the beauty of resilience.

Love, Leanne xoxo

P.S. Here’s to our next generation, please see C’mon C’mon .