This is Diana Gold and she is RESILIENT.
CONTENT WARNING: The I Am Resilient Project provides an open space for people to share their personal experiences. Some content in this post and on this website will include topics that you may find difficult.
Describe the situation where you had to be resilient:
In general, my whole life I feel like I had to learn how to be resilient. However, I had emergency surgery two years ago and it shut my whole life down.
Diana’s Story.
My whole life I feel like I’ve always been behind the eight-ball. I’ve always been not really getting the job that I’ve been going for or not quite being successful in the opportunities that I’ve been seeking. Many times I’ve had to learn to just kind of move forward and accept the outcome of any sort of condition. That was less than favorable to me. I had to learn how to twist my mindset in a way that helps me digest what’s going on and understand that it hasn’t been happening to me but mostly happening for me. Also, what can I learn from the situation? So, when I had my surgery two years ago, I was at the tail end of a really bad relationship and I had been very stressed for many years at work. I was working in a job that I had to be in in order to advance my career and it wasn’t ideal, So, I had to wrap my head around all of those things.
My surgery was because of an ulcer in a ruptured abscess. I didn’t know that I had it and all of a sudden I was at home one day after dinner and I had what I can only explain to be like a balloon popping in my guts. I ended up in the hospital for a week with feeding tubes and all sorts of other stuff attached to me. I was basically recovering from something that the doctors told me was so severe that if I had not gone to the hospital and just gone to sleep it off, I would have died.
So, that kind of really just slapped me in the face and said, ‘you know all of these things happened to you? In reality, they’re happening FOR you!’ So I had to learn to manage my life and manage expectations. This really helped me to figure out how to navigate life in a different way rather than just kind of not dealing with it and trying to move forward.
How did you practice resilience when faced with this challenge?
I can look at a situation that other people would otherwise see as a setback and find a lesson in it. So, in terms of looking at things that may happen for me I realize that it’s not really a bad thing and it’s just something that’s happening. I don’t have to internalize the stress. I don’t have to freak out. I can just deal with what’s happening as opposed to reacting to what’s happening.
Please share one piece of advice for people who are going through a similar challenge.
Zoom Out. It’s very easy to get caught up in what you want right now and looking at the big picture isn’t always easy. Sometimes, realizing that not getting what you want might be the best thing for you and if that includes speaking up and being an advocate for yourself in your own well-being. Knowing something needs to be addressed is important and remember that the more painful part would be to just ignore it.
Are you ready to share your story of RESILIENCE? You can do that HERE.