The Pulse of Resilience: Why Falling Is Part of Rising
What comes to mind when you hear the word resilience?
For many people, resilience means toughness. Pushing through. Grinding it out. Enduring hardship and carrying on.
But what if resilience is something deeper?
In a recent special multicast episode originally recorded with our partners at the Dalgarno Institute's Unnecessary Harm Podcast, I joined resilience expert Jen Schneeman and host Shane Varcoe to explore the theme of this year's World Resiliency Week: The Pulse of Resilience: Fall, Feel, Rise.
Our conversation challenged a common misconception. Resilience is not about pretending everything is okay. It's not about suppressing emotions, ignoring stress, or simply "embracing the suck."
Real resilience begins when we acknowledge what is happening.
For Jen, that means paying attention to the signals our bodies are constantly sending us. As a trauma-informed nervous system specialist, she helps people understand that stress, anxiety, exhaustion, and even burnout are not personal failures. They are signals. Information. Invitations to pay attention.
For me, that message hit close to home.
As a combat veteran and someone who has spent years navigating trauma, recovery, and healing, I learned that resilience wasn't about becoming tougher. It was about becoming more aware. It was learning to recognize what was happening inside me, understanding how my experiences shaped my responses, and developing practical tools to respond differently.
It matters for individuals. It matters for families. It matters for communities. And it matters for prevention.
In prevention work, we often spend a great deal of time talking about problems. We talk about substance misuse, mental health challenges, trauma, violence, and risk factors. Those conversations are important.
But we also need to talk about strengths.
We need to talk about hope.
We need to talk about the everyday moments that help people stay connected, grounded, and resilient.
As prevention pioneer Dr. Jeff Linkenbach often reminds us, "The positive exists, and it's worth growing."
That philosophy has been transformational in my own life. Recovery did not begin when I focused on everything that was wrong. Recovery accelerated when I started intentionally growing what was right.
The same principle applies to resilience.
Whether it's spending time in nature, connecting with a friend, practicing gratitude, moving your body, noticing your breath, or simply giving yourself permission to rest, resilience is often built in small moments that rarely make headlines.
Those moments matter.
As we prepare for World Resiliency Week, my hope is that people around the world begin to see resilience differently. Not as perfection. Not as toughness. Not as the absence of struggle.
But as the ability to fall, feel, and rise.
Because resilience isn't about avoiding life's challenges.
It's about developing the awareness, support, and tools to move through them.
And that's a skill worth growing.
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