They are able to tolerate ambiguity, uncertainty, and imperfection. They have a long-range perspective, so they give themselves and others room to grow. They can afford to be resilient, flexible, and creative because they are centered in their values.
—#4, Traits of Stress-Hardy, Resilient People
In my last post I said I want to continue integrating the Traits of Stress-Hardy, Resilient People into my life. One way I’m going about it is finding visual metaphors for what I’m aiming for. I also use affirmations and mantras, but my mind is primarily visual, so that’s the most powerful way of influencing it. For instance, years ago when I was hooked on food, one of the images I used was of slender silver chains pulling me towards the refrigerator. It was liberating to mentally take a pair of scissors and cut those chains.
The pictures of the goose in Having the Sense That God Gave the Goose is a great metaphor for Trait #6:
They take responsibility for their mental programming, their emotions, and their actions. If they have ineffective ways of thinking and behaving, they evaluate them and make appropriate changes.
And the picture above will remind me to take the long-range perspective mentioned in Trait #4. Notice the expression on the boy’s face. He has a long way to go before he can hope to be as big and as skilled as the man teaching him. But he’s not discouraged. He’s focusing on the present moment, doing the technique as best he can. That’s me….I’m just a little kid following my path and enjoying the process. When I temporarily forget to do that, I’ll think of this picture and get back on track.
What about you? What are you aiming for? What techniques are you using? Do you know of any pictures that would make good metaphors for becoming more stress-hardy? Please share your thoughts and experience in the comments section.
Picture by MASA via Flickr. Used with permission from owner, who reserves all rights.
Thanks to Galba, Mary and bikehikebabe for commenting on the last week’s post.
I SO MUCH WANT TO BE STRESS HARDY, RESILIENT & CENTERED. Not easy for me.
As for metaphors, one is if somebody is annoying, I imagine them being sucked up into the sky & disappearing into space. If I were centered I wouldn’t need that image. At the end of an uphill hike I imagine closing a giant zipper. At the end the zipper will be closed. (???)
bikehikebabe,
I love your image of the giant zipper. I’ve hiked up enough hills to appreciate the need for encouragement sometimes. It’s not an image, but I also like the hiker’s prayer, “Oh, Lord, if you can pick them up, I can put them down.” It helps a lot when my legs get tired. 🙂