I'm having one of those weeks, and it's only Tuesday. I keep making mistakes at work - silly little mistakes, and several big whoppers. Of course this happens the week of my review. Of course.
One of the principles that we strive for - whether we are simple living, homesteading, minimalist or any other related philosophy - is resilience. It's in many ways a more useful concept even than sustainability, in my opinion, focusing on building the ability to absorb shock locally. Resilient food chains focus on local rather than organic, for example.
Resilience is a personal skill too - the ability to adapt to a changing environment, to dust oneself off and keep on putting the nose to the grindstone.
Today I am practicing resilience at work. I'm taking a deep breath, making a cup of tea, and taking a few minutes to be warmed and cheered by the early spring sunshine. I'm slowing down - rushing means more mistakes - doing each thing that comes my way carefully and checking it before sending.
One thing at a time - that's at the heart of simple living, isn't it? By doing one thing at a time, and focusing on doing it well, we get far more done than when we try to multitask, constantly connected to multiple inputs. One thing a time, one foot in front of the other. The weekend will get here, and with it my seeds for my new garden, a visit from family, and maybe even another batch of yoghurt.
Ah resilience! It's what we're trying to build, within ourselves, within the farm organism, within the community, our city, our state, our country Etc etc.Iy is so important to be able to withstand the shocks that we are sometimes sent. Over the last little while it has been holding up to the heat and drought. It's been hard going on us personally as well as for the farm, but we have been resilient. We have resilient due to all the things we have put into practice here to be able to bounce back after tough times. Although the times can be tough it always feels good to look back and see what works and what doesn't. All the best with your tough times.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the support. I agree, it's massively important to build resilience on all levels, but as I'm learning, even on a very small personal level, it can be a real challenge!
DeleteChin up lovely! You are doing exactly the right thing trying to slow down at work too. Do you have a plant on your desk? A wee pot of bulbs would give out positive vibes... xxx
ReplyDeleteOooh what a lovely idea... Might stop at the flower shop on the way to work tomorrow. Thanks for the encouragement!
DeleteYep, resillence really is a good skill to have ,particularly in self suffiency. I don't think our vege patch would look like it does if it weren't for resillence...because if i am not doing something wrong to it ... the chooks are doing their best to eradicate I always doing the silliest things when I am trying to do everything at once - glad you slowed down at work- I bet next week will be a whole lot better!
ReplyDeleteFingers crossed for the week to come - resilience is definitely worth having and worth working for but it does take a fair bit of work to build, doesn't it?
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