A lifelong journey in supporting your child to succeed will come with many moments of hardship. In dealing with these difficult times, external advice from books, videos, or experts will not give you the relief and tools you truly need. Instead, you’ll have to dig deep to find the inner strength and resilience that comes from within.
In my family’s journey, we have experienced many ups and downs, perhaps like your own family. It is the resilience we didn’t necessarily know we had that has helped us remain equanimous and continue marching forward.
My husband recently wrote a piece about building resilience in the face of extraordinary life challenges and I’d like to share it with you. His post was in response to the question: Why are some people more resilient than others?
Select quotes from the article:
When I was 16 years old, twenty years ago, my parents’ business burned to the ground. Three months earlier, they had canceled the insurance policy, as it was too expensive, and forgot to renew with a different provider…
…Two years ago, I learned that our soon to be born, first child, had experienced brain bleeding as a fetus. The prognosis was grim, and we were told to expect significant disabilities, including possible life-threatening scenarios. Nothing could have prepared me and my wife to receive such news. We embarked on a new life journey, one of extreme uncertainty and challenge, but also of immense love and joy.
Today and almost every day, as a parent myself, I think of my dad’s words to me as I was crying on that rock.
One day, when my little one is older and experiences the disappointments of life, the fear and anxiety of the uncertain, and the heartbreaking nature of grief, loss, and failure, I will be there for her, in the same way that my parents were there for me. I will teach her resilience in the same way I was taught resilience: while life can take away from you material goods, or present you with daunting challenges, nobody can take away from you what you learn, and your right to choose how to respond to hardship.
Click below to read the full article.
Cindy has a deep interest in Cortical Visual Impairment (CVI) and is currently studying Early Childhood Education. She focuses most of her time on her energetic daughter: playing, cuddling and helping to make her world visually accessible. Cindy holds a degree in Marketing and has worked in the not-for-profit sector for many years.