I've noticed my own emotional and psychological resilience has increased as I've aged. Things that once affected me deeply seem to affect me less. But what I'm really curious about is something different.

I'm no longer willing to mask the truth of how I'm feeling.

Research shows emotional resilience improves as we mature - even after significant life changes like bereavement, retirement, loss. But the way that resilience shows up might not look like we expect. It might not look like "brushing it off and getting on."

You'll hear:

• How a loved one's hospital crisis revealed something about my own reserves - the concept of "borrowing from my future self"
• The Self-Care Bank metaphor: how we can invest, withdraw, and sometimes dangerously empty our reserves
• A story about burnout: my mother's death, a new job, nearly dying - and what I take responsibility for
• The moment I felt myself return: a part of me called Joy, and why she still needs protecting
• What a mother's poem written twelve years ago reveals about resilience, courage, and dealing with difficulty
• Three different entry points for three different people - on masking, depletion, and the pressure to be resilient

I also share why I'm no longer willing to perform, and what that means for how I move through the world. This episode is also  a Field Note on the blog - link below if you'd like to read as well as listen.

Settle in and see where the episode takes you.

LINKS
Field Note: www.hennyflynn.co.uk/field-notes/what-real-resilience-looks-like
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Contact: [email protected] or visit hennyflynn.co.uk

RESOURCES
That longitudinal research on resilience as we age: https://www.elsa-project.ac.uk/post/resilience-in-later-life-elsa-study-finds-older-adults-often-maintain-good-mental-health-after-majo