Resilience – more than just a buzzword?

Is it just me or is everybody else also just eyerolling when you hear the word “resilience”? Since Covid hit the world, it feels like one of the buzzwords that derive from that aera.

I never really identified myself with being resilient as I used to go up the wall as soon as something didn’t go to plan. Main trigger for this behaviour was for sure my previous job as all schedules were knit very tight and as soon as something didn’t work out, the entire construct of different tasks, deadlines, etc. threatened to collapse. But also, my personality of being very hands-on in getting things done contributed to it. In the end it cost me a lot of additional energy being angry and trying to change the unchangeable, instead of accepting what was happening and what I couldn’t influence.

I am not sure, when the change happened, but I notice a significant difference in how I deal with changing circumstances and accepting things, that I can not change. I even notice the ability to not only accepting new circumstances, but also trying to make the best out of it and embrace the situation.

I am on holidays now, travelling with my camper van through northern Spain. Yesterday morning when leaving the town to do 4 hours travel to my next destination, I noticed a serious damage on my van that hindered me from continuing my trip. There are only a very few garages in this area that can handle a car of this size, so my options were limited, and all the garages told me it would take a couple of days until they get it solved as their calendars were full. So, I had to rethink my plans, try to find a place to stay for at least two nights which is almost impossible in high season and wait for the repair of my van. I ended up in a nice boutique hotel literally in the middle of nowhere. I enjoyed the peaceful and chilly night, the very comfy bed, nice breakfast and did a long walk through the nature this morning. I reorganized my trip hoping to be able to leave here tomorrow and asked the camping site (that I had to cancel yesterday morning) if they could book me in from Thursday till Saturday as I was really looking forward to their spot. Luckily it worked out. So, I am positively hoping that everything will be solved until tomorrow and I can continue my trip with slight adaptions to the new situation. And if the van will not be repaired by tomorrow? No problem, really. Whining at a high level? Agreed, but still.