"Resilience is necessary to cope with the demands of these difficult times".

It's said almost every day. I heard it in a mental health TV commercial. Football commentators use it a lot. People tell me, "We need to be more resilient!" A supreme grasp of the obvious, but as is usual with the obvious, putting the obvious into long-term practice is not always as simple and quick as we would like. The first half of any news bulletin will confirm this.

 I think the first difficulty with Resilience is wanting to embrace it bad enough. There are resilience options designed to inspire us, from Lego to courses to teach us how to lift our sights and expectations. But inspiration is not enough. Inspiration gets my attention but I need time to carefully decide if I really want to lift my attitudes and behaviours. I have to decide if I'm prepared to pay these costs to become and remain a resilient senior citizen.

The second difficulty, I think, is Beginning. A recent example was the thoughts barrelling through my mind when my wife asked what I thought about cleaning the windows, doors and screens in our home. This is now a major 2 day project, becoming more major the older we get. I knew what this job would probably cost me with my chronic conditions but it's worth paying because it's the right thing to do. Deciding to begin was a big mental hill to climb. The thing is once I begin, I want to do it well.  The end result doesn't make beginning any easier. The big hill is always there. Resilience is not easy but it does make life more meaningful. In these Covid times, I think that matters. Well, I think it does.