Last spring, I had the pleasure of hosting a Resilience Circle for anyone who wanted to attend. A whole variety of people came–healthcare workers and educators and one woman who worked at a shelter for those escaping from intimate partner violence. We had students and retired folk and many people in between.
One person, who I will call Jill, was particularly attentive. As she shared in one of the later circles, her husband had stage 4 cancer, and she was trying to be more open to this journey they were taking together. She knew her previous skill set was not enough to take them to the next stage of life–whatever it brought–in the way that she wanted.
Throughout the 12 weeks we shared together, she was open and vulnerable with her struggles. And she shared her successes–when she was able to Notice her Protective Patterns, how the skills helped her, and how she was able to Let Go more and allow her husband to take the cancer journey he needed to take without her trying to control this (ultimately uncontrollable) time for them. I think we all learned a lot from her. I know I did.
Recently, I received a lovely email from her:
“I attended a Resilience Circle with you. One of the many things I got out of it was your sharing about your default being of Finding Gratitude. You repeated this often. I want you to know how much of an impact that made on me. Increasing my gratitude had been one of the practices I’d been focused on. Seeing that you were successful in this endeavor encouraged me to follow what you were modeling. It gave me hope.”
In this season of giving hope, we know that hope and gratitude have ripples. So many participants have shared their gratitude for this approach, and I want to say Thank YOU from them and for them. You give us the emotional and financial support that encourages us and helps us grow the We Are Resilient community.
With resilience,
Meri and the Dovetail Learning team