How to Bounce back

One of my fondest memories as a child is going by the river and sitting idly on the bank. There I would enjoy the peace and quiet, watch the water rush downstream, and listen to the chirps of birds and the rustling of leaves in the trees.

I would also watch the bamboo trees bend under pressure from the wind and watch them return gracefully to their upright or original position after the wind had died down.

When I think about the bamboo tree's ability to bounce back or return to it's original position, the word resilience comes to mind. With a person, resilience means the ability to readily recover from situations that stretch the limits of a person's emotions.

Have you ever felt like you are about to snap? Have you ever felt like you are at your breaking point?

During the experience you probably felt a mix of emotions that threatened your health. You felt drained, mentally exhausted, and you most likely endured unpleasant physical symptoms.

Life is a mixture of good times and bad times, happy moments and unhappy moments. The next time you are close to your breaking point, do not let the situation get the best of you.

A measure of hope will see you through. With hope for a better tomorrow, unpleasant times may be easier to live through.

If the going gets tough and you are at your breaking point show resilience. Like the bamboo tree, bend, but don't break!

Did you ever have a day when you felt like your "get- up-and-go" had gotten up and left? Has a stressful situation ever left you feeling drained and unmotivated to perform even simple tasks?

Most of us have experienced this to some extent. Having the resiliency to work, play, and continue performing after stressful times requires that we have enough reserve energy to bounce back.

Those bamboo trees, in bending one direction, build potential energy to bounce back. However, when we experience stresses that bend us, we may expend more energy than we have in reserve. Human minds and bodies are not made of bamboo. We can easily break before we bounce.

Depleted energy results in career burn out, depression, and physical illness. Relationships can suffer, and periods of intense apathy can move in to steal much of the joy in living. For us to spring back after a stressful time requires a storehouse of reserve energy!

How can we store enough reserve energy to be resilient after times of crisis or stress?

Energy reserves can be replenished daily through the discipline of balance. Balance provides flexibility, a quality essential for responding in positive ways to events in all of the major life areas.

This includes taking time daily for relaxation, and participating in activities that we enjoy and find relaxing. We can perform better under pressure, recover from setbacks, and minimize resiliency fatigue by strengthening our minds and spirits in healthy ways.

A wise friend once told me that she kept a happy book. It contained hundreds of things she loved most -- things that made her smile and laugh. Each day, she made sure she did a few of the things in her happy book. This became a great way to replenish the energy

consumed by the stresses of daily living.

Fortunately, God gave us the ability to be very resilient. However, we have to nourish that resiliency. So, He also gave us things to laugh at as well as work toward.

We have the choice to balance our daily lives and be flexible in our responses. Perhaps we can even be as resilient as those bamboo trees!