Suffering is a part of life and life presents us with agonizing events – things we would never have intentionally chosen. Sometimes it’s the result of bad choices that had consequences, but often, it’s simply because the world isn’t perfect. Things are broken. The law of entropy says that things tend toward disorder. It’s never going to be easy, adversity isn’t going away. How will you respond when you encounter suffering? On this episode, I talk about fortitude and six steps to increase your ability to endure.
When you fail, what causes you to get up again? As you know, it’s not about how many times you’ve gotten knocked down, it’s how many times you get back up. This is resilience. And instead of spending a lot of time focusing on it here, I want you to know three characteristics of resilience that Dr. Ann Vertel has identified.
Dr. Vertel’s Three Characteristics of Resilience
- Gratitude,
- Growth, and
- Goodness.
Rather than talk a lot about it, follow the link below and go listen to this episode of Dr. Vertel’s Take Charge podcast.
Resilience is what allows you to push through the challenge, the failure, the suffering and get back to life. It’s a critical part of the “getting back up” process.
In contrast, fortitude is going to help us to find life in the midst of the challenge, the pain or the failure. You can think of it as courage or bravery. Fear (False Evidence Appearing Real) is emotionally draining. It can beat us down and wear us out. It can cause us to become paralyzed and not take action.
Fortitude is grit and nerve to undertake what might be impossible in the midst of struggle! Fortitude is pushing on when the pressure to quit is overwhelming. Think of the story of Louis Zamperini, the Olympic athlete, and WWII POW. If you haven’t seen the movie, Unbroken, rent it, not sometime, today! If you want a vivid demonstration of fortitude, you will find it here. Louis established a mindset of survival, a mindset that you can’t break me. It’s the idea that no matter how long I have to suffer, I will live. The strength of the human spirit, the ability to thrive in the midst of torture, is fortitude. And you’ve got it! You may still be developing it, but YOU HAVE GOT IT!
Six Steps To Increase Your Ability To Endure
- Don’t withdraw, get in community
- Value the struggle
- Push forward
- Recognize the things you can’t control
- Be grateful
- See others
YOU have fortitude. YOU were built for the struggle. Don’t give up!
http://www.theblaze.com/contributions/we-need-fortitude-not-just-resilience-in-an-age-of-fear/ By Jamie Aten, for TheBlaze
Great quotes from this episode:
“Endurance helps us to keep going when we are fatigued, suffering, weak, exhausted, or facing discouragement. Enterprise helps us to undertake great deeds while withstanding hardship.” – The Diocese of La Crosse, WI
“…whereas one of the hallmarks of resilience is on expediting recovery, fortitude places greater value on endurance.” – Jamie Aten
“The area of your deepest wound is going to be the area of your greatest impact.” – Kary Oberbrunner
Resources mentioned in this episode:
Take Charge podcast with Dr. Ann Vertel Episode 43: How To Be More Resilient
We Need Fortitude, Not Just Resilience, In An Age Of Fear by Jamie Aten on The Blaze
LTL 024: Five Things I Learned At Influence & Impact
Get Your Message Heard podcast with Dr. Michael Hudson
Unbroken by Laura Hildebrand
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