Adversity

Sep 12, 2024

 by Sue Hitzmann

Have you ever lost someone you truly loved? Or have you ever had your heart broken or struggled with divorce or infidelity?

Have you ever lived through a natural disaster or had a miscarriage, abortion, infertility, or have you been bullied?

Have you lived through a family member or loved one committing suicide, or struggle with mental health issues or any eating disorders?

I'm guessing everyone reading this post is nodding their head, yes.

Adversity doesn’t discriminate. If you’re alive you are going to have to deal with some tough times. This isn't the first time I've had to feel grief, sadness, or loss. It's a part of life.

Just when you think you have it all down, you are consciously aware of your life and life seems perfect, trauma happens. It just happens. In the blink of an eye you’re thrown into grief yourself. You suddenly question yourself, you judge, you get judged by others, you world is smashed into pieces...

Usually I'm on the other side of grief offering expert advice. But over the past year, and most aggressively the last two months, I've been on the other side of all of the amazing advice I’ve given to others. So how do I cope? How to I continue to walk into the face of adversity and allow grief to be an asset?

Resilience training. It's a big deal. In developing MELT I took scientific findings out of academia and brought the information to the general public so they could implement techniques into their daily lives to help improve their resilience. I'm using what I know, I'm staying focused but also giving myself time each day to reflect, rephrase thoughts, and allow my heart time to feel every emotion as I move through it all.

So how have you had to face adversity and make something horrible into a new beginning? What keeps you resilient?