The world is stuffed full of...
…buzz words these days – some more disingenuous than others.
Alignment. Blessed. Agile. Vibe. Slay. Leadership. And, surprisingly, resilience. Like the rest of its tired cohort, the juice in its meaning has all but run dry and not because of over-use, but rather, misuse.
I have a soft spot for the miraculous capacity us humans have to make like a mythological, immortal bird and rise from the ashes, post-adversity. It’s a skill, it’s a necessity so when life, plot twists on your ass, you can navigate sh*t and find your smile again.
Essentially, resilience is persistent flexibility.
But what if your fantastic bounce-back-ability is sabotaging you?
What if your resilience toughens you up, conditions and primes you, ready to fight another day in… a toxic workplace, coercive relationship… name your poison.
It may even lull you into a delusional state of,
“It’s ok, I’m ok, it’s better now, they’ve changed, I’ve changed.”
So you get up, dust yourself off, and go back into the fray again.
With great resilience comes great responsibility. Use it indiscriminately on situations or people that repeatedly harm, compromise and diminish you and one day you may wake up to find you’ve ‘resilienced’ yourself beyond recognition.
If you’re stuck in a rinse and repeat cycle of toxicity you should’ve fled a long time ago, I dedicate this Phylosophy to you.
My beautiful human, resilience is your super power but not everything or everyone deserves to benefit from your heroic comeback.
© Phyllis Foundis 2025