Word of the Day: Resilience
8th of March, where the world celebrates the designated International Womens Day was also my best friend Sze’s birthday. She would have been 32 this year, happily married, healthy and most likely has had a kid or two. But it would not have been so, just like many other dreams we cherished upon when we were younger only to gradually witness a large portions of them come crashing through as we forge on towards maturity. Jessica Watson, a teenager from Sunshine Coast, Australia is currently chasing her dream to sail around the world solo unassisted. At 16 years of age, when asked what was the motivation and why would someone risks their lives to conquer what seems to be impossible and especially at such at tender age, she lamented that she did not want to live her life out of regrets like many of the adults whom she has came to know who no longer believe in dreams. Many cited the reasons of living within the boundary of societal pressure i.e. getting a job, doing the right thing that makes sense, having kids, marriage and etc, and hence the dreams from young perceived now as foolish and weightless compared to the pressing needs from the many other “important” things which weight more in life became but like a whisper of a bygone.
I guess hypothetically, we can’t all be sailors – can we. We can’t all be supposedly doing extraordinary things just to prove the validity of living out the big dream. But, to explore the intent of even dare to having a dream, and the integrity to protect it from being tarnished by restrictive adult judgement is in itself applaudable, and no mean feat. It gives such zest to living, and youthfulness from the weary and sometimes harsh existence. Like the Madhatter who uttered the following words to Tim Burton’s character of Alice, ”You have lost muchness…”. That perceptive line echoed my sentiments of watching the vigour of youth lost, and it will be greatly mourned should it choose to depart one day.
And most of the dreams in life can only be achieved synonymous to the degree of resiliency which an individual posessess – most, but not all. Resiliency can only govern the depth of capacity to provide resistance towards negative influence, but in matters like the essential cycle of living – it is not within its nature to be determinate. So, the cumulative of its expressions does not correspond to the eventual outcome. But that’s also where the beauty of it lies for I do not remember how supposedly tragic was towards the end of it all, but your strength and fighting spirit is eternally ingrained in me. The way I live, choose to live and fight in every aspect of not giving up to my own fundamental negativities is the testament to the legacy of your graceful conduct while you were around.
So, I was at the company’s corporate event celebrating the achievement of women in all areas of social, political and economy throughout past, present and future when several speakers were asked on who in their lives, embody resilience to the best and inspired them to do the same? Most quoted their mothers, with exemplary stories of how their mothers have provided to them with limited resources, assumed responsibility as sole breadwinners and raised them in a single parent environment, provided unlimited faith and believe in their ability at times when no one else did and much more. Another lady quoted her husband as her role model of resiliency when his business tumbled from bad to worst to the point of bankruptcy that they were rendered penniless and jobless. It took both husband and wife to join forces and encourage each other from the deepest end of their sorrowful situation and work their ways to untangle the financial mess.
I was totally inspired, and if it was me – I would have said that among others, you would be one of my living example who has demonstrated what it means to defy adverse situations. And, that’s something that no one else can take away from you, because you fought a good fight to live.
