“Then they gave thanks for Beowulf. Once he said a thing, he kept his word. Once he set his mind, he never backed down. Steadfast, right-hearted, to the end.” -James Rumford, Beowulf, A Hero’s Tale Retold
Welcome to The Character Issue for May! This month is all about Resilience & Resourcefulness. Funnily enough, today’s post comes at the perfect time. Here at SLOCA, we’re all about sharing the good, the bad and the beautiful so here’s a little personal narrative. As I (Cheryl) write this, I’ve just experienced what was probably one of the most challenging homeschool weeks of the year (notice I said week…yes, all 3 home days). It was actually rather fascinating because though our days aren’t perfect, I don’t remember the last time all 3 of my sons were so in sync in their noncompliance. It was really quite entertaining. Well, now that I’m looking back at it. And no, I would prefer it to not happen again. I’m not sure what it was but I was very close to calling SLOCA Admissions and letting them know their numbers might be changing next year. Ha. It was one of those hard-difficult-arduous-laborious-exhausting-challenging kind of weeks. I can keep going with my adjectives, but I believe you get the picture. And I am certain that I am not the only homeschooling parent that’s dealt with this scenario. If you’ve been educating from home for any amount of time, you understand exactly what I mean. And yet, as much as we want to sometimes throw the towel in, there’s something in us that refuses. There’s something in us that continues to show up. That wants to show up! To be with our kids. To be present in every moment.
“Resilience is the ability to recover strength, determination, spirit, flexibility, and good humor in the face of change, mistakes and trials. Catch phrase: The only real failure is to not try again.”
From simple frustrations to incredible difficulties, we encounter opportunities to practice resilience and resourcefulness on a regular basis – often daily! In fact, resilience sometimes requires resourcefulness (or vice-versa), as they usually go hand in hand.
“Resourcefulness –To act effectively and imaginatively, to use information and available resources wisely and efficiently. Catch phrase: You can figure this out!
As much as we want to help our children, struggles and challenges are good for them. They are also watching how we deal with life’s trials, mistakes, and setbacks. Do we act with strength, determination, and good humor? Are we resourceful in our attempts to keep trying?
After some helpful time apart, my boys and I came back together to talk through our week. Using dad’s contagious humor, we made a plan on how to continue developing resilience for those tough days.
For intentional resilience-building, here are two handy resources:
So for those of you in a tough spot or a rough patch, we want to remind you to, “hang in there!,” to know that, “this too will pass,” and to always try to, “find the funny side.”
And a BIG THANK YOU to Sabina Zink for her beautiful artwork above! Have a great rest of your week everyone!
