Resilient

In education research you come across the term "resilient" a lot when it comes to urban children. I don't think most people realize that if some of these amazing kids actually make it to school for a day, they have shown great resiliency. I think about difficulties in my own life that happen at times. A loved one ill, a death in the family, lack of sleep, peace, food. It causes me to realize that my students have so many lessons to teach me. For many of my students this stress is daily, or weekly. I guess I am learning to be resilient. Maybe yoga helps us access our own inner power to focus, and lets the outer world around us flow past without putting a scratch on our souls.

As a soccer coach, I can go without food, warmth, comfort for a while, and I cope and push onward. It's not much to handle, compared to when a kid calls her mom and she says, "start walking" to her young daughter who would have to walk 10 blocks through a not so nice area in the dark. It's not so much when a girl is called out of class because her mom was in a car accident and rushes to the office scared. It's not so much when a kid came to me, homeless and cut off from his brothers and I help him find a place to stay so he can graduate. It shows me that actually I am so lucky. It gives me strength to accept the silliness of road ragers and snobs and people living on the surface. Because underneath life is a pulse of beauty. The glow of teamwork, of self confidence, of making a spot for yourself in the world, regardless of those that push you down, or try to take from you. Because when we have our resiliency, we have everything.

Namaste,
Kat