Resourcefulness

Resourcefulness: the ability to cope with difficult situations, or unusual problems.

I am undoubtedly a resourceful person. I think I always have been. I do not bother much with talking about a problem – unless, of course, I need to vent or receive some empathy. I stay focused and find out how to resolve the situation.

I had the good fortune, of course, to be raised by a father who kept saying nothing is impossible and by a mother who trusted me fully to find solutions.

Still, I believe that everyone is resourceful. I believe that every person has the ability to act effectively or imaginatively in difficult situations. What stands in the way are beliefs, which form specific attitudes and behaviors.

So here is my process, more or less:

I have confidence. Whether I was on a sailing boat in rough sea, suspended from ropes in a cave, or working at my desk, managing a project, or coping with an illness, I had confidence that I have what is needed, or that I will find what is needed.

When something happens, I never think of it as a problem. I do not consider a conflict, a mistake or any kind of crisis a problem. It is what it is: a situation that needs to be dealt with.

My senses stay focused. No room for panic, fear or sadness. I can always take my time after the situation is managed to process the feelings. For now, it’s only about staying focused, unhindered by anything that is not helpful.

There is no room for any thoughts about what cannot be done. My only and immediate thought is “what needs to happen?” and from that comes the "how", options to make it happen. I never doubt, not even for a second, that there is a way to achieve what needs to happen.

Knowledge, strengths, skills, resources, structures, all immediately fill my mind in a brainstorm and like pieces of a puzzle find their place and form the solution.

If you start from this point, that every problem has a solution and that you have the ability to cope with any problem, if you start with confidence and calm, what would you do differently?