The word resilience is made from the Latin word re meaning “back” and saliens “the beginning, the starting point, the heart of the thing”. So to be resilient is to return to the heart of ourselves. That returning? It’s a journey, a motion. So how do we stay moving and come back to the heart of it all? One way we can ask that is what do we hold onto in hard times? Another question would be how do we hold on, or move through or….. how do we hang in there in the hard times?
My UU colleague up in Montpelier Vermont, Liza Earle-Centers, explains it this way:
When we care for our body and spirit we can be resilient. So let’s review for our bodies, on a daily basis we have to:
1) Eat (mostly healthy) food 2) Drink water 3) Breathe fresh air 4) move 5) play 6) sleep
These are healthy body practices.
What are the things we can do for our spirit to keep our spirits strong on a daily basis? We need healthy spiritual practices! What can those be? Well the difference between healthy body practices and spiritual practices are that while everyone eats, drinks, and sleeps, spiritual practices are more unique for each person.
Here are a few to try out. Maybe try one everyday for a week, maybe keep it going for the month! Maybe if you have a regular spiritual practice try a short new one for a week and see what happens. I would love to hear how we feel after our practice tryout:
Everyday
- Hang on to time to sing
- Hang on to time to sit quietly
- Hang on to time to make some art
- Hang on to time to be thankful (gratitude jar is one way to do this)
- Hang on to time to look out your window and find one magnificent thing
Yours in Faith and in Hanging in there,
Ebee Bromley
Two resources to find what works best for you to hang onto:
Faithful Practices: Everyday ways to feed your spirit ed. By UU minister Rev Erik Wikstrom
Everyday Spiritual practices: Simple Pathways for enriching your life ed. By UU minister Scott Alexander.
Or videos from SacredSkills.org the Fulfilling Service: Resources to Create Sacred Spaces and Experiences