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The Power of Restorative Activities in Maintaining Resilience
People annoyed with the speed at which we bounce back into shape may be impatient with what systems thinking expert Donella Meadows called elasticity or the ability to recover an aspect quickly.
At the end of our six months together, my life coach announced at our last session that I should “just be resilient.” There was another time when I went to a family member for comfort, and as they walked away from me, and refused to do so, they said, “Get over it.”
No matter what turmoil we are in I think we understand that we can be resilient or quit. We typically choose some level of resiliency which is evident in our living, but what exactly are we choosing to be and do?
Resilience
Resilience can be seen as a characteristic or a process in the system of our lives.
In systems thinking resilient systems are dynamic, and once we look at the processes within them, we can discover leverage points that will impact their performance.
“Being resilient is the ability to bounce or spring back into shape, position, etc. after being pressed or stretched.” — Donella H. Meadows
Before we change the current system, we need to understand how it behaves. This understanding tells us where to focus efforts…
