Which flower says resilience to you?
WHICH FLOWER SAYS RESILIENCE TO YOU?
Are you team Cactus? OR Are you team Tulip?
If you’re like me, you chose the Cactus — it blooms under harsh conditions, makes the most out of the environment it’s given and conserves resources to survive tough times.
But too often I see people painting a picture of resilience that looks more like the Tulips — as a kind of well-adjusted, psychological thriving that results from careful tending and ideal conditions.
The reality in my experience is that resilience doesn’t always — doesn’t often — look like thriving. Because resilience is a response to adversity, to a lack of resources. It’s a response often to unimaginable pain and suffering. Sometimes it’s a response simply to being pushed a little at a time until we reach our breaking point and need to make a choice about where we’re going to look for safety and relief.
Resilience is a response to stuff you can’t positive-think your way through. It’s a response to coming face to face with harsh realities that force you to adapt or die. It’s a learning process, and it’s messy.
What you can’t see in that picture is that the cactus has a tap root that goes down about 5 feet. Some desert plants have tap roots up to 165 feet long. They’re resilient because they’ve accepted the limitations of their environment — they’re not trying to turn the desert into a garden — and they’ve learned to go deep.
“Be the cactus you wish to see in the world”