Resilient women are tough women, but at what expense?
Being a resilient woman is how you cope
You are so resilient that you keep working, despite exhaustion. You push yourself despite knowing you should stop; ignoring your body’s alarm bells of discomfort and maybe even injury.
Modern life has redefined our capacity
Definition of Resilience: the capacity to recover quickly from difficulties; toughness.
We have swapped hand washing our clothes together around the well, for double shot oat lattes, and we’ve lost our sense of true connection.
Our modern lifestyle of doing lots of things and doing them fast has redefined what ‘capacity’ we are expected to live with.
I observe the humans of today are being so resilient they are able to recover from adversity with barely any time to process each struggle. This is toxic resilience and is causing burnout.
We have never lived in better times … and yet
We have never lived in better times as far as infant mortality and women’s rights go, and yet the rates of depression and anxiety are skyrocketing!
It is a proven fact that women who work outside the home, still do the lion’s share of the work inside the home. We are pushing through even more chores and ticking off more from our ’to do’ lists than ever before.
I am not proud to say that I am so resilient that I can go a whole day at work without needing to go to the toilet. I know this is not unique to me, and is predominantly found in the caring and service industries.
LESS resilience, MORE rest
I assert that the resilience we need more of, is the ability to allow ourselves to rest without shame or guilt.
Instead of having the resilience to work another double shift or continue housework past 9pm at night, we need to say ’no’ and be confident that we are tough enough to stand our ground in the name of self-compassion.
Listening to what my soul needs
Sometimes it’s not my body that is tired but my soul. So instead of mindlessly scrolling social media when I’m exhausted, (we’ve all done it), I choose me, and hang out in the Virtual Women’s Village for a nourishing experience of connection, support and belonging. It feels so good!
In kindness and love,
Niomi Reardon
Virtual Women’s Village Service Provider,
and Author. Nurse. Health Coach
You deserve to be nurtured the way you nurture others
The members of our Virtual Women’s Village know what it’s like to be apart of a truly safe, loving and nurturing sisterhood.
Every day, women are re-claiming their lives piece by piece to remember who they really are, before they got crazy busy and lost in the never ending ‘to-do’ lists and demands of ‘life’.
What are you yearning for? What’s that something ‘more’ that’s nagging deep inside you?
We all have access to this knowing, but often we need a little support to find it. Reach out, take our hand and let’s find out together.