The Importance of Resilience

Living with Resilience - the writing on a rock in a forward army base, where we were camping at the start of our odyssey in the Himalaya at 12,000 ft. , captures the qualities needed to be Resilient -

Perseverance and Valour

We live in times of great uncertainty and a life filled with tremors at the workplace, personal lives and the world around us. For years we absorbed news of impending climate change, global warming and a tougher economy, and then we were faced with a massive Black Swan event that no one could have predicted – the Coronavirus pandemic, It wreaked havoc in the rhythm of the world, took away millions of lives and left its imprint of trauma on the survivors. As it was just beginning to fade away and lives and businesses began to recover, a new set of generations born post the 1950s, were confronted once again, with the scourge of the era of war, terrorism and endless conflict in Ukraine and the Middle East. The emergence of AI, job losses, the rise of right wing movements, the increasing frequency of massive floods and wildfires from the US to Asia are pointing to a world spinning into chaos.

In the midst of all this, we survive, pretend to thrive, wake up each morning to sales and margin graphs, marketing campaigns, develop new programs or ideas on how to be the next successful start up or find the next medical breakthrough treatment. We are all living examples of a model that is trying to find root in surviving by trying to be resilient without being aware. However most coping mechanisms and attempts to become more resilient are not sustainable unless it becomes a way of life and we permanently embrace struggle and hardship. Hence it is important to be aware to the quality of resilience because it can be built and it can be deployed to transform our lives and ours and others' performance at work.

Resilience as is well known is simply put, a capability to adapt to adversity, recover and claw our way back, as a way of life, to think of and implement solutions to solve problems in our community, workplace, family and our own lives. On our Himalayan Quest, I re-discovered that the shining examples of resilience are visible in the remotest villages amongst the indigenous people who have survived hostile environments for centuries. No where was this most evident, though it is extremely widespread, than in the easternmost areas of the India’s Far Eastern corner in Arunachal in Dong Valley and in Spiti Valley. We can learn from the most remote tribes on the ability to survive, endure hardship and yet lead contented lives.

As we cycled across the Himalaya we observed, spent hours talking to villagers, labourers and farmers on their life in the mountains.

In our long 3000 km mountainous journey, we experienced the power of resilience and grit each day, especially when climbing steep gravel roads with 40 kgs each, heaving our way over passes and valleys. After the initial bouts of whining and moods, we didn't let the rigors of our journey break our spirit, instead we embraced it with laughter and jokes, surrendering to the forces of nature with a grin. The days we camped were enjoyable but also tough, as water is not readily available and streams have to be found, camp has to be set up and the night endured especially in the pitch darkness in remote forests. Day after day, climbing, living, planning and withstanding the elements of nature, made the fibres of resilience stronger in us. We found great synergy with the people of the lands we were travelling in and they enlightened us and humbled us on the privileged nature of our lives and how we can be more grateful. These experiences led us to some simple insights and below I am sharing a few things that can make us resilient as a human , stronger, wiser, humbler and more agile at work, and as humans closer to our families.

1. Immerse yourself in Nature each week locally and take a short solo trip or a guided hike into somewhat remote or off the grid mountains or remote communities each year or even better, twice year. I highly recommend the Himalayan mountains and not the sea. Mountains are ancient living symbols of resilience and strength. They have been there in the same place for millions of years and have a spiritual energy that have given birth to ancient civilizations. Spend time in the forest, studying plants, foraging in the wilderness with a local on what we can eat and we can’t, watch out for birds and listen to their songs and begin to identify them using various apps that are now available. Bring back these eatable plants and cook/ or boil them and have it in your next meal. Allow yourself to re -connect with your genes, the memories embedded in your genetic sequence will come to life.

2. Travel on foot or bicycle as much as possible in Nature. Live a life when travelling with a purpose, with no windshield and that is when you will come into close contact with the forces of nature – rain, heat, cold, winds and the sighing of trees and the silence of rocks, the sight of a wild animal, maybe a fox or a leopard or a beautiful bird. Walking and cycling are two activities in Nature that will also help you bond with your fellow humans ( and countrymen) on the road. Travel not as tourists but as humans on the road on a discovery tour.

3. Connect with Humans on Your Journey. Listen to the gripping stories of resilience and survival from the farmers in the villages just as we did. Stories of bringing water to the village from miles away, from a lake atop a glacier at 16,000 ft, laying the pipes for it. Imagine a life, when there is no gas cylinder for cooking nor electricity for heating, so having to rely on firewood, collecting it and storing it, not once a year but every two to three months, collecting grass each day for the cows and goats. Young school children walk miles to get to their school, only to discover that the teacher has not come to school or that there is no food for the mid-day meal. They find the mettle and the courage to walk back home in the falling evening darkness with leopards lurking and faith to walk back the next day, and the next and the next. Each step of theirs from childhood builds resilience. Listen to stories of the stone breakers for the BRO. Children huddled in a corner and the little ones wrapped in a blanket sling on the back of their mother while she crushes stones, in the Himalayas this is a common sight. Yet the mothers work on, with smiles on their faces, their youthfulness taken away by the rigors of chisel of hard work, determined to give their children a brighter future. Their young faces etched by the wrinkles of hard labor and a brutal sun. Yet they would laugh and wave to us with great gusto and invite us to share their lunch and tea with us. That is Resilience.

4. Embrace Struggle and Hardship. We were in Sainj Valley early this year. As we cycled on, on broken, gravel roads, all we saw was utter devastation brought upon by the floods in Himachal in 2023. A once prosperous valley reduced to rubble with no hope for revival in the immediate and mid term future. But the resilience is on display everywhere in the form of inventiveness – some have started new businesses, some have moved and started life all over again, some just sit there and bemoan their bad luck. The resilient ones will survive and thrive because they made their peace with it and are on their way to solving problems.

5. Making the Impossible, Possible. That’s the motto of the BRO. In Dong Valley in Arunachal, like in most places in the remotest parts of the Indian Himalayas, the Indian Army and BRO are shining examples of the undying spirit of resilience. Roads and trails have been built in places and conditions that would seem unimaginable. Indian Army posts are in commanding heights that defy imagination. There are our fellow humans there, guarding borders, based in posts in complete isolation from the world we take for granted. It’s a superbly tough life that has made them more resilient. Taking on tough deadlines and challenges at work will build resilience and an instinct to thrive and survive well. Return with such stories and narrate them. Use their metaphor to encourage yourself, your family and your co-workers to begin to understand that we are all inter-connected and building resilience is as essential for thriving not only as an individual, but as a family and an organization.