Leadership Matters

CHAPTER 8BELIEVE IN THE FUTURE

To be resilient is to know challenge and not be cowed by it. It is to stand firm in the face of adversity and to bounce back from misfortune. It is to adapt successfully to difficult or challenging life experiences. But without confronting challenging experiences, can we really claim to be resilient?

If resilience is the process and outcome of successfully adapting to challenging life experiences, then Mae Thiew has embodied a unique way of meeting those external and internal demands. I know of no one who has faced such daunting demands over such a sustained time yet has found a way to keep going in spite of the pressures.

For me, the key to resilience is dealing with challenges over time. One-off life crises, no matter their magnitude, are overcome by drawing on our skills and the support around us. It is when those challenges persist that we need true resilience.

I can rationalise to make sense of Mae Thiew's journey and even find answers to the question that I have asked myself so many times about her, which is: how did she continue when there appeared to be no end to the challenges she faced? When we believe the problem is insurmountable, we're probably right. When we hold on to hope and believe an end is in sight, again we're probably right. There is much to be said for the benefit of believing. But when the suffering continues for months, which turns into years and even decades, how can we possibly maintain hope? Perhaps we can say that ...