Letting Go To Bounce Forward

Recently I presented to 150 employees from the same company. The topic was on positive mental health and coping in the times we are all living in and navigating through.

One of the stories I shared while speaking with the group about how mindset shapes how we cope and how resilient we are, was an experience from 25 years ago. I was involved in a near death sailboat accident. It resulted in my marriage to Christopher (that's the awesome news!... we are 25 years married) AND it created a fear of sailing that took 7 years to move through. This was also when I started to look at resilience differently. To me, resilience was not so much about bouncing back, it is all about Bouncing Forward after change, challenge, crisis and adversity ... so that day I created my own definition and have been using Bounce Forward ever since!

Letting go of the fear I that prevented me from hopping back on the boat (for 7 years) I was reminded of the power of releasing what no longer serves you (in that case it was a fear of having another sailing accident and not trusting in my sailing skills that I would be ok if it did happen again).

Truth be told, it was my dog Toby who helped me get back on the boat. He was a Chesapeake Bay Retriever, a water dog, who was terrified of jumping off the dock into the water. One day while we both watched Chris sailing alone (AGAIN) I said to the dog "if you jump off the dock, I will get on the sailboat and sail."

After working with Toby through the summer, he jumped off the dock (over and over and over again), and I got on the sailboat.

In fact, that year we won the Desperado Sailboat Race in Lac La Biche, Alberta. Letting go of what no longer serves you is such an important part of resilience.

Fast forward to now... in this presentation I also shared how the lessons in life often repeat when we need to be reminded or clear space for what no longer serves us. In 2018 I was diagnosed with stage 3 breast cancer and in a short 8 month period I underwent two surgeries, 54 visits to the doctor, specialists and health nurses, and four rounds of chemo. My Bounce Forward mindset was instrumental in coping with this journey. It's been two years now, my hair is long (and came back curly- BONUS), my health is good and I am two years with no trace of cancer.

The lesson from the lake popped up again.

While preparing for this recent presentation for this group of 150 employees, I was cleaning out one of our cupboards in our washroom, where I found my wig and all my wig accessories. As I pulled it out and gave it one last brush, I decided to donate this to someone who needs it as much now as I did then.

And then.....

A fleeting thought....

"I wonder if I should keep it - just in case"? Was the question that went through my mind.

The answer that came out of my mouth was "you are healthy, have your own hair, and this no longer serves you." Keeping this "just in case" was almost like I was making space in my world for cancer to come back.

Letting Go to Bounce Forward is such an important step in resilience... it is not a place we get to but a practice we do daily. Just like a bank account that you need to keep making deposits to, our resilience is like that too.

What are you doing today to deposit to your resilience account?

I was delighted to share this story in the recent Voices of the 21st Century book (DM me for a signed copy)