Include the Chaos – Activate Resilience

So much has happened since you last heard from us that we're not even sure where to begin to catch you up so here's a quick rundown:

1. I had a heart attack in April (I'm doing well) – I've lost 35 pounds since the heart attack and my heart is in good shape. I have a stent and I'm managing myself well.
2. We completed 11 years of Red Elephant – This was a huge accomplishment for us. We are proud of ourselves.
3. Our whole family got the corona virus – All three of us got ill at the same time. Jibraan's symptoms lasted about 12 hours. Afrin and I were out of commission for over two weeks. I still have no sense of salt taste in my mouth and my sense of smell was severely compromised (sad as it used to be one of my superpowers.
4. Afrin then dealt with a major health issue (she is doing well) – This was also very scary for us. Afrin is dealing with this privately and successfully. Feel free to reach out to her if you'd like.
5. Hurricane Ian just left Florida – So many hurricanes. They seem to follow us and each time they bring back past trauma and induce significant stress. We came out unscathed and are grateful for that and sending love and light to all our fellow Floridians who are so impacted.

Here's what we've been learning through all of it:  It's time to start including the chaos. Including the chaos rather than avoiding it or waiting for it to end is what activates your resilience. 

I know this may seem simple to many of you reading this, but for me it was like a revelation. All the ‘blips' we've endured over the past 5 years have made us stronger and more resilient than I think we already were. In fact, I would say we're known for being resilient and it's mostly a positive way to be known (you don't want to be known as the people that bad shit keeps happening to). Yet, I can't help but wonder what the future will be like having had this revelation.

Here's what I mean:

We've been handling the ebbs of life and business by temporarily putting things on hold while we grind our way through whatever challenge we've been facing. As soon as we conquer the challenge, it seems like we started all over again – right back at that bottom of each of the hills we placed on hold.

Moving forward, we're excited about finding a way to include the difficult circumstances life throws in our direction in the flow of what's already on our plates without halting or pausing anything. Integrating the bad with the good suddenly looks like a huge opportunity to make us even more resilient and stronger than we've been rather than a dangerous and risky undertaking.

Here's what I want you to take away from this blogpost to support you in integrating your challenges into your daily life:

1. Start relating to breakdowns, regardless of how bad they may feel, as immediate opportunities for growth. Confront them fast while making sure that everything else keeps going.
2. Stay in communication with people you trust when facing a challenge. Two or more brains hacking through a challenge will always be more effective than one.
3. Make sure you exercise or meditate – do something to release the trapped negative energy in your body that you can't release by simply verbalizing or acknowledging.
4. Take time to consider what the breakdown provides. How does it enhance or impede other areas of life and business and can those be turned into opportunities for you and others?
5. Keep in mind that the breakdown is taking place because something can no longer maintain its status quo. It needs to change and is no longer waiting on you to change it. This is natural and you should treat it as such.