We're past sucking it up and sticking it out, aren't we?

Too many people are told to suck it up, stick it out, grit their teeth and grind through.?

I think we're beginning to realize that isn't healthy. At least I hope we are.?

I recently had the pleasure of gathering with and then presenting to a group of parents in my own community who were wrestling with issues of resiliency, and a better way forward for our kids and ourselves. It was a symposium hosted by a new nonprofit called NW Resiliency Project, founded by a few moms who were determined to find better resources for all kids after three suicide deaths in the local youth football community in just a couple of years. (Don't ever discount what some frustrated, scared mamas can do when they put their heads together!)

We heard from a coach who works with athletes and their families; a mom in recovery, Pamela "Pam" Pearce, CRM , who has dedicated herself to helping kids avoid substance use addiction; a Rosebowl-winning college football star, Walter Bailey , who experienced and then overcame depression and homelessness who know works to help other young athletes; a therapist with expertise in mindfulness (who may be a bigger brain science nerd than I am, which is saying a LOT); and the director of the Oregon Health Authority's Behavioral Health Department, Ebony Clarke, LCSW .?

I shared my program on how we can create communities that Get Real on Mental Health, through compassion, openness and support.

We also had the sacred honor of hearing the heart of the wife of one of the coaches who died by suicide. She urged us to continue to fight for resiliency in our communities.?

It was a tremendous day, a hard day, and a day that I truly hope is just the beginning of a movement in my community and yours, a movement that says the only good "sticking it out" is sticking it out TOGETHER.?

We're in this together, and we can do this.

Tara