Are you currently struggling to stay positive, cool and on-top-of-things? The COVID-19 outbreak has struck us hard, and on many different levels: Some have lost their jobs, some people’s lives have been put “on-hold”, some have lost a loved one and some, for one reason or another, feel like they’ve hit rock bottom. Maybe even all of the above. And get this, it’s part of the New Normal!
Us humans have never experienced anything like this before (at least those of us born in the last 70 years :). If there is one thing I’ve learned from the lockdown experience is that I needed to develop my resilience, or “willpower”, so that I could actually stay positive, on-top-of-things and cool.
I was watching a nature documentary during the outbreak and was hugely inspired by the behaviour of the Red Imported Fire Ant (RIFA)! Never have I observed such a great role model to follow for resilience! The RIFA is an extraordinary specimen that is native to South America and they live in a variety of habitats, often in extremely hostile environments. They are insatiable hard workers; they even build rafts to save themselves when water is rising!
But the thing that impressed me so much, the thing that made me think us humans are sometimes way too focused on suffering and complaining about things, is how the RIFA reacts to their mound being destroyed. Before we go into that, note that it takes the average RIFA colony months or longer to fully build their mound, and it is one of their primary objectives in life. When another animal or adverse weather conditions come along and wipe out their entire, life-time’s work, they don’t react by putting their hands on their heads and saying “oh no! That’s so unfair, I can’t believe this is happening to me”. They observe the situation for a millisecond, understand it and know what they have to do. Start rebuilding.
What better a definition of Resilience than that! Disaster (or something near it) strikes; a few seconds to take it in, secure the area and boom! Let’s get to work and build an even better one guys! We should be finished in a few months time….
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