HEALTH & WELLNESS
Editor’s Note:
Bold Blind Beauty is thrilled to share with you snippets from Becky Andrews’ new book “Cultivating our Resilience Workbook/Journal.” Adversity strengthens and builds resilience; Becky will share weekly practices to help us become more resilient. ~Steph
Hello All
Thanks for following along in our cultivating resilience practices. If you have just joined us you can go back and read through all the previous practices. Each of them is important and has made a difference in my own life. I recall when I first began to lose my eyesight, my mom said to me you have every right to feel angry about this. Her simple validation of my feelings made such a difference as I moved through the feelings of grief and loss around my vision loss. The anger didn’t stay around a long time and in part because I was given permission to feel and process it. Practice one: Give yourself permission to feel.
I reflect back on learning the practice of self-compassion (Practice two in our cultivate resilience). In difficult times to respond with compassion for ourselves and that experience leads to resilience. The memory of being denied access to a clothing store. It was hard. It can be exhausting at times to be that advocate. To recognize that self-compassion gives us the energy to continue to move forward.
In our third practice, we’ve talked about is recognizing our strengths. We all have incredible character strengths within us just waiting to be utilized during our challenging times. When we implement them in our challenges, they become an incredible force for good. Our Signature Strengths are both essential, energizing, and effortless. If you haven’t, take the questionnaire at: www.viacharacter.org
Our fourth practice was the awareness and practice of healthy boundaries. As a blind woman, the importance of establishing boundaries is essential for me. It’s important for me to know I have healthy relationships where I can give and receive.
This week our practice is Grit. We made it to practice five in our cultivation of resilience. That takes grit. Persistence. Perseverance. Willingness to continue to show up. Grit is that determination that keeps us going. To keep moving forward. Sometimes when we are pushing through experiencing a challenge, we may not recognize the grit that we have within us. Take a pause and reflect on a time when you showed grit.
Grit is having the courage to push through, no matter what the obstacles are, because it’s worth it.
~Chris Morris
It’s There
Today a client said to me, this is really hard. We sat there for a moment and then we started talking about the grit of her pushing through each day. It felt good she said to acknowledge that. She has been exercising her grit muscles and sometimes they get sore and need a pause as well as recognition for the workout. I’m a runner so I appreciate anything that can be related to a running metaphor.
So, take a pause this week and recognize and honor your grit. It’s there and is a part of your resilience cultivation.
It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly, who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming, but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself in a worthy cause, who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring great.
~Theodore Roosevelt
About The Author:
Becky Andrews is a Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselor, Small Business Owner – Resilient Solutions, Inc, and founder of the Daring to Own Your Story ™ Retreats. She is also the author of Look up, move forward – her memoir of Losing her eyesight and finding her vision.
You can follow her at:
- Facebook: Becky Andrews, Resilient Vision
- Instagram: @ becky__andrews
- Website: www.beckyandrews.info
Workbook:
Cultivating our Resilience Workbook/Journal will be out Fall 2020. Email Becky at becky.lpc@gmail.com to be on the waiting list or preorder.
Image Descriptions:
- Header: Photo of a woman scaling a mountain wearing a long white dress and rock climbing gear on her back and around her waist.
- Becky is sitting on outdoor steps next to her guide dog, Georgie, a gorgeous yellow lab.