I’ve been around this planet for a while. Sometimes it’s hard to believe just how long. And in my life I have seen my fair share of challenges.

Given I am still here, I guess you could call me resilient – or is it more honestly, lucky?

To be truthful I sometimes wonder what the mix of the two any life is made of. Not even considering the challenges of my under 21 years my adult life speaks of someone with grit and determination and resilience. After all I survived breast cancer, navigated a divorce, raised two wonderful daughters and made a successful mid-life career shift, got remarried to a wonderful husband, and have some semblance of stability in life.

But here’s where my “but” comes in. If you read my blogs regularly you know there is usually a “but” LOL. OK, so here is this one: maybe I just got lucky. I mean who can really know? Despite lots of “grit and determination” people die from cancer each day – I do not pretend that I somehow was the only cause of my survival. And hey, no one knows what’s around the next corner. Those of us with cancer on our medical records rarely go in for a screening of any kind feeling 100% confident. And yes, I did work really hard at my first career and to get to my second and continue to find ways to be resilient. I don’t mean to take any of that away from myself or you for your hard work and ‘can do’ resilience.

I guess this month as I ponder embodying resilience and exploring all the tools I have accumulated along the way to continue living with resilience, I want to also acknowledge that resilience isn’t always about getting the outcome we want. Sometimes resilience is about letting go of the outcome and simply allowing life to do with us what it will, knowing that somewhere deep inside something holds us which will not let go. Even and maybe especially when we do.

I love the reminder from the Buddhist teacher, Pema Chodron, ““Only to the extent that we expose ourselves over and over to annihilation can that which is indestructible be found in us.” This is the gift of resilience I carry with me this month and the one I will aim to embody.

May you too find what is indestructible in you as you continue on your journey to embody resilience in your life.

In Solidarity of Spririt,
Rev. Deborah Bennett