I'm lucky in that I've got two parents who loved each other and the family they built around them. Like most families, we harbour a few secrets. Not dark ones, but no less disturbing. The fact that one of my three brothers refuses to acknowledge the existence of my parents anymore is sad in the telling, but we've all moved past it in our own ways. That's resilience, one of a number of patterns of thinking I learnt from my parents. Mum and Dad have accepted my brother distancing himself from them. They speak of him with a regret in their voices but they have gotten over pining his 'loss' of connection to them. They are still practising what they both displayed to me as a child. Resilience...
I can't imagine being without any of my senses. If you've read my previous entry, I wrote about a health problem I am having at the moment and how great I was because I was so optimistic. Reading it back makes me almost sound like a wanker. The one reply I got came from someone who permanently lives without hearing or smell. But this person wasn't berating me for being so patronising, dammit. Instead, this person was actually sympathising with me. That's resilience. I like to think that regardless of what life deals me, I will have the same strength and resilience to continually try to make the best of it. But I guess only time will tell. I'm going to keep my head up, stepping forward and allow myself to make mistakes, to grow and to learn. For the sake of sounding wanker-like again, I don't keep my head above water, I try to float across the top of it. It works for me and as they say, whatever works...