Clearly, no one would ever say I am not a resilient person. More important than what others might say, I would not say I am not a resilient person. However, ever since I read the research on willpower fatigue, I noticed something I would call ‘resilience fatigue’. What I am noticing is that sometimes I get tired being so resilient.
Yesterday I recorded a blog radio show. As usual, I spoke of grounded optimism, positive psychology, gratitude and resilience. Prior to the show, I had read an article about a 17 year old author and social activist, Talia Leman. Her book is A Random Book about the Power of ANYone and her website is www.randomkid.org. I knew I would use some of the information from the article in my blog radio interview. Sure enough, I said…”In the article Talia is quoted as saying, ‘Now when I get stuck, I think of it as a wrong-way sign. I realize that that stop sign was pointing me in a better direction’.”
No sooner did I recite that quote, that I paused. I then added, “your listeners might notice that it was easier to accept that premise when they were 17, but by the time they are 40, 50, 60 or beyond, life has presented so many stop signs that we forget to transform them into “oops, wrong way” signs. That is what I call resilience fatigue.”
My Dr. Success Challenge for today is short: Notice if you are suffering from resilience fatigue. That is all, just take note. Every next great step starts somewhere and readers of my Don’t Die series know if you change your awareness, your perspective changes.
In my next post, I will give suggestions how to overcome resilience fatigue. Life has allowed me to hold a self-gifted Olympic medal in that sport! That is why I teach what I need to learn.
Thank you, Andrea
