Resilience.

The ability to bounce back is probably one of the most useful things I've acquired over the past few months. Like the lyrics in Incubus 'Make Yourself', I was like paper mache, "at a distance you're strong, until the wind comes, then you'll crumble and blow away."

From a very logical standpoint, the amount of time I've minimized by simply assessing the situation and pinpointing what I needed to do to move forward, and maintaining a positive attitude, has prevented the situation from spiraling out of control or stagnating. All that time I've saved, put together, has really increased the productivity I've had. I'm imagining all of the variables that pushes a situation off kilter. A bad attitude can cause someone else to completely shut down. I, myself, if I'm unable to control my emotions, could be shut down by these situational factors and lose any momentum I have and any momentum that others have, which are depending on MY actions. It's of immense importance. I can't emphasize it enough. Even letting a situation stagnate by needing such a large amount of time to cool off or to get your mind off of things is symptomatic of a much larger problem. It means my mind isn't right. It means instead of dealing with the situation at hand, I would have developed a quality in which people will say: "She gets frustrated really easily and she burns out a lot. You have to give her time to cool off, but she'll eventually get back with you. In the mean time, don't count on her because she needs her space." You see the issue. People are let down, and society allows this quality to exist for some strange reason. Why do we not get to the root of the issue? It's puzzling. In my opinion, extremely busy people are given a free pass to burn out. Burn out is the name for not handling thoughts in a productive manner. I firmly believe this. Love everything you do. Everything you touch, is what you should be doing. Don't back away from the commitments you make but be careful of the verbal contracts. Your words are the only things you own aside from your time. Be your own gatekeeper. Back to my primary point, resilience is such an amazing asset because it is the elasticity from coming back from negativity. That's what it is in a nutshell.

Obstacles are a form of negativity -- potentially. Really, they are opportunities to show your bones and to show fortitude, but a lot of these obstacles can be formidable. I know. Being resilient, and pushing forward when operating on little sleep, and little support, has to come from your character. Resilience is a part of it. This quality is often overlooked and I think it needs immense emphasis, similar to attitude and willpower. Allowing burn out to be the reason someone is unable to move forward falls under the category of "not good enough". For the sake of this individual, they must seek to understand what is the cause of this inability to manage one's life with a smile and go-getter attitude. When work, school, or whatever it may be ceases to become enjoyable or bearable, there's a problem. Too many commitments? When one priority takes more time than usual, something has to give. Is there any time for oneself, and friends, and family? These are potential root causes.

Work/life balance is an art. It is an art worth practicing and learning. It is not a bad thing to be at the brink where one has to re-evaluate and shuffle the pieces around to make things work. Rather, if one is never at the brink, how will one ever learn the capabilities and learn what one is made of? It's like a workout curve. One plateaus and needs to push oneself to the next echelon of fitness. The ultimate gain here is priceless: maximization of your pursuits, the pursuit of garnering the most amount of happiness!