Generative Resilience
This week I want to introduce an idea that I'm just beginning to play with. Actually, I've been exploring it for over a decade (!) but I came up with a term for it yesterday. I'm calling it Generative Resilience.
For most of my life, I've believed that in order to make the most of my life--to fully pursue my calling and to keep going, even in the face of adversity--I would have to work very, very hard for a very long time... I would have to give everything.
I've been okay with this. I like the idea of fighting for something worth fighting for. Of crossing the finish line completely spent. In my own life, I've found some things worth fighting for. Some prizes worth running toward. And so I have.
After 44 years of fighting hard and running fast:
- I feel tired.
- I don't seem to be winning any fights (who is it I'm supposed to be fighting?).
- I've yet to even catch a glimpse of a finish line.
What if I've had it all wrong?
What if life is not a race, or a fight?
What if taking the most important steps in our life doesn't have to cost us everything? Or anything?
Generative Resilience is an inner posture where the very act of pursuing our deepest callings in life nourishes us rather than exhausting us. When each of our steps rejuvenate us, our journey not only becomes more powerful; it becomes infinitely sustainable--a healthy way of life, rather than an effortful race to the finish.
This can change everything. Like a superpower. I believe it will change everything. And I believe it is something we can begin to learn and practice today.
Over the coming months and years, I'm going to explore this "out loud" through this newsletter, through my music, and through other means. I'm inviting you to join me in exploring this as well. This can be so much more than Nathan exploring and sharing on his newsletter; it can be all of us exploring, learning, and growing together.
For today, I'll leave you with a small and practical starting point for exploring Generative Resilience. I'd love to hear about anything interesting that you find!
Exercise:
Think of the place you are trying to go. It may be a business venture, a life-mission, an important investment, a relational shift... picture it in your head. That is where you are going. Now see where you are. There is a path between where you are and where you are going. Look at that path. How do you feel, physically in your body, about that path? Does it feel like something that is going to take everything you have to "get through?" Is it rocky, rough, thorn-infested terrain? I know that some of you are more than willing to push through this path. And I don't doubt that you can. But I want you to look at something else, for just a moment: is there another path? One which not only doesn't cost you everything to walk, but which actually feels wonderful to travel? Explore this this week. I'll do the same. I'm excited to hear what you find, and I'm excited to explore this more together in the coming weeks!