Resilience

Something struck me in October when the need for a new lockdown became apparent.  In March I had to stay away from the news. I felt panic and wondered what on earth was happening. Schools closing?  I didn't manage to plan for my team during 2 days as I felt guilty and incapable of assigning them any work, knowing they had to work at home with the children at home as well.  I was scared.

Now in October I was simply scared that our government would not take any such measures (or way too late as they did).  But the measures itself felt like a relief.  There was no panic but relief. How odd. It's the same situation but now it was the 2nd time. 

I had to think of Mobile School's coaching video's they produced in the first lockdown and more specifically on the one talking about resilience.  Resilience is a streetskill you often see among street children. They are very agile and must adapt constantly to changing environments.  And they do so with so much success we can learn from them. 

So in this 2nd lockdown , I'm showing more resilience. I am confident I can handle the change again and that it is not a problem but opportunity.  Why?   Because we had immersion to the first time and learned from it. I did do a lot of self-reflection the previous months, saw how I coped well in relative isolation with my family (so I am lucky not to be truly isolated, I know!), I've experienced that I am capable to work from home even in the not ideal situation of having the children at home and I also noticed they continued to be their happy selves even when missing their friends for a while.  
I've given great thought not really on all disadvantages (yes there are many!! I know!) but on all the advantages that this unusual situation has given us.   And I feel ready for a long fall and winter, probably quite isolated but hopefully quite connected too digitally.   Yes, we can do this but we must keep our eyes open for those who struggle. 

And now I think I'll rewatch all other streetwize video's...even if it's just for Bram's silly jokes.