Just Keep Swimming

Amnesia is an odd place to find inspiration. But Dory, the bright blue and forgetful fish in Disney’s Finding Nemo, encouraged an entire generation to carry on. Their parents as well!

Dory’s mantra, “Just keep swimming,” is pretty powerful. It's a reminder that life goes on, whether you're ready or not. Or, as the Brits say, "Keep calm and carry on." Regardless of sharks, lanternfish, or any other obstacle between you and your goal.

That's resilience.

Resilience’s definition is telling. The Oxford Languages dictionary says it’s "the capacity to withstand or recover quickly from difficulties." Also, elasticity and toughness.

It doesn’t mean never getting knocked down. Life is hard. Sometimes immeasurably so. You are going to get knocked down. We all fail and end up in the muck and mire of this life. Being resilient allows us to get back on our feet and bounce back. Bend like a willow instead of breaking. That elasticity is what we’re going to strive for.

So, how, exactly, do you gain resilience? I’m glad you asked.

Start Small

Resilience and perseverance are mental muscles. Just like your biceps and abs, they atrophy if you don’t use them. So go out and stretch and use those bad boys. But don’t do the equivalent of bench pressing 300 pounds and hurt yourself. Start small. The little annoyances that happen every day? Use those to build up your resilience muscles. Keep going. Don’t let them stop you. Pretty soon, ugly traffic on the morning commute won’t put you in a bad mood, but you'll even think a blown deal will be used as a stepping stone.

Encourage Others

When you use your strength to help others, you help yourself, too. This is not a selfish act. Go out and look for those around you who need encouragement, assistance, and a push to get them through. You can leverage their trials to build up your own perseverance muscles. You both get a benefit from it. They get the boost they need to make it over a significant hump. You have the opportunity to stretch and build your resilience.

Begin Again

I mentioned this is a muscle. Just like working out your muscles, there will come a point of failure. That’s natural. Take a step back, regroup, and figure out where and why the stall happened. Then begin again. When we start over, it forces our brain to realize, "Hey, I'm really serious about this whole resilience thing.” It will back you up, help you develop new, innovative paths through problems, and lead you to the other side. And if you don’t make it the first time, or the tenth, you’ve only given yourself more ways to deal with future hurdles.

Getting through a difficult situation isn’t easy. It’s hard work. That work is worth it in the end. Most people forget the fact that you can either grow or shrink back in the face of challenges. The choice is up to you.

You won’t always be without a job. Your legs will heal. The relationship will most likely recover. What you learn from the situation and how you strengthen yourself is magic. Getting back on your feet; starting over? Only you can make that decision. Only you can do the work. Remember: doing that work will make all the difference in today's challenge and all the ones to come.