This week is a Truly Good Week!
If you’ve been around this community for a bit you know that I’m Jewish. Or in the words of Seth Myers, you can tell from “my name, my face, pretty much everything about me.” And this week being Jewish means, for the vast majority of the 16 million Jews left around the world, a collective holding of breath, a lack of sleep, a hiccupping sob and exhale as the last living hostages in Gaza returned to their families. To our family.
It’s tremendous, it’s glorious, it’s miraculous. And it’s hard! It’s exhausting and confusing and gut-punching, this miracle. The resilience required to navigate this amazing change is shocking – even to me and I study resilience as my life’s work.
So, what lesson is there for you in this dichotomy? Even if you’re not a part of the 0.2% of the world that hung on every day of the last two years and every moment of Monday, you will also experience in your life the fulfillment of a dream. As a matter of fact, the more longed for, worked towards and believed in your dream, the more resilience you may need when it comes true.
The moment you see that this thing you want as much as – or more than – anything is going to actually happen? Your brain is shook! Your amygdala will respond with a huge rush of chemicals trying to protect you from this huge change. Imagine you’ve been working towards a revenue goal or an impact goal in your career. It may only be the difference of one dollar, one grant, one follower that tips you over to meeting that goal – but it represents something much, much bigger to you.
It represents a change in what you work towards next.
It represents a change in how you define yourself.
It represents a change in who you are and what is possible.
When dreams come true our whole lives have to shift. That requires a huge amount of resilience.
So when your dream comes true and it’s hard, use the same strategies you would if something bad happened. Give yourself some empathy, reach out for support, manage your discomfort… all the things we talk about together weekly. And try not to be surprised. There is nothing wrong with you. You are equal to this moment, you deserve this good thing.
Tell me about something you want this much, you’re working towards this hard – I want to know and to cheer you on, and support you when it comes true.
All my best,
