Resilience

RESILIENCE

Lots of evenings recently have featured a beautiful heavenly show of thunder and lightning. Beautiful, yes, but also usually preceded by heavy winds and a quick downpour. It reminds me of how crazy weather can be. Each year differs from others. Each day also differs from others. We all joke about our crazy Virginia weather and we wear our hoodies in the morning and our tank tops in the afternoon.

This year is the first year that I have been at Polyface where we have had the creek running into July. It has been an abundant year with plentiful rainfall and fertile grass. Last year however we worked through drought-like symptoms. 

The crazy thing about weather is that we have no control over it at all. What we can do is adapt and prepare. We can pivot priorities as needed and set up infrastructure that allows for us to thrive when the unexpected happens.

Lots of farming is learning to be prepared yet also flexible. Farming is about picking up the pieces from a storm and figuring out how to do it better next time. 

It is a lot like life, isn’t it? Just like the weather, life can throw you unexpected curve balls. It can bring abundance one year and the next can leave you wondering if there will be enough. 

As a farmer, I plan ahead and batten down the hatches when I see heavy winds on the horizon or prepare for frozen water pipes when it dips below freezing in the winter. As a human, I can pick up the phone and check in on my close friends and family, I can plant a garden and source good food to prepare myself for the storms of life.

I am quickly learning that resilience is an essential quality in life. Don’t just ask yourself the question: “Do I have what I need for when a crisis comes?” but also: “Am I the type of person that I need to be for when a crisis comes?”
Being a resilient person is still being your true person in a crisis. What does it take to keep you kind, calm and joyful despite change and loss? You don’t want to turn into a stressed and angry presence as soon as things are upheaved in your life. But this doesn’t just naturally happen. Take three steps back from a crisis and ask yourself, how do I prepare now to be that person then?

Here are some questions to get you started as you contemplate how to be the person you need to be for whatever storms life throws at you:
Do I know what I believe? Am I grounded in the truth? Do I have community around me? People that I love and that love me? How can I now grow those relationships? Do I need to forgive anyone? Is there anything that I need to cut out of my life that is causing me to be unhealthy? What are my values? How am I living them out? Is my lifestyle sustainable and aligned to my values?

There are many other steps we can take to grow into the people we want to be but hopefully this can get you started.

I must confess, I am not naturally inclined to check the weather, I am much more of a take-it-as-it-comes kinda girl. Maybe “fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants” is a more accurate description! But in order to be a good farmer, I have disciplined myself to prepare for weather patterns, checking high and low temperatures for the day and planning ahead for rain and wind. I am not perfect but I had to start where I was and just begin showing up and doing the best I can.

That is all I am encouraging you to do. Give yourself grace, commit and just show up. Don’t let the storms of life have control of you but instead find your footing and press into resilience. We can’t predict the weather outside or life circumstances but we can prepare our hearts for when the storms come!