How ready are you?
A friend recently introduced me to the term Prosilience.
As in: Resilience is about how you respond to challenges. Prosilience is about how you intentionally prepare yourself to deal with them.
And it got me thinking…
Our home has vaulted ceilings in the primary bedroom. With a smoke detector way high up on the ceiling. One of our first purchases when we bought the house was a giant ladder. I knew at some point, likely in the middle of the night, the smoke detector batteries would want to be replaced and I’d need a way to reach it.
It sat in the closet for months, unused, until the smoke detector started chirping. Totally in the middle of the night as I had expected. But we had the tools to be able to reach it in place when we needed them. Prosilience.
I’ve been a journaler for a long, long time. My practice hasn’t always been particularly effective, nor has it always been particularly consistent. But I did it enough that whenever I needed it, I could count on journaling to come through for me. Like when I was faced with a divorce I didn’t want and didn’t see coming. My journal was the first tool I reached for to help me through. Prosilience.
Over the last few months, I’ve been learning about my nervous system - its purpose, how it works, how I can get myself back in regulation when I feel dysregulated. I’ve practiced tools like breathwork, meditation, and EFT tapping to soothe me and help me feel more even-keeled.
And all of this effort came in so handy this past week as I’ve found myself dealing with unexpected illness of a family member (he’s going to be okay) and also when picking up said family member from the train station only to discover myself in the middle of a crime scene (we were safe). It took some work to get back in regulation, but I had the tools to do it. Prosilience.
I think of it like preparing for emergencies. We live in New England where snow and ice are frequent winter visitors. We keep shovels, ice melt, and extra fuel for the snowblower on hand. When a heavy storm rolls through, we know we’ll be okay even if we lose power because we have food and water on hand, a way to keep warm, and plenty of flashlights and lanterns so we have light. I’d rather have all of this and not need it than need it and not have it.
What is the skill you need to build you you can strengthen your prosilience?
How can you implement it today so you can be more resilient when you need it?
Use these prompts as written or as inspiration to uncover what you need in your life this week. And know that I’m always here to support you and answer questions you have along the way!
Reflect on a time when you exercised prosilience. How did you prepare yourself? When did it come in handy? What was the situation when you needed it most?
What can you do to be a little more prosilient today?
How can you support others as they work on prosilience?
One Journaling Idea I Love:
The Skill Builder
Use your journaling to create a list of skills you want to build and things you want to learn. Make a plan to work on them, one at a time. Check them off when you’ve achieved your desired level of proficiency. Use your journal to figure out how you’ll use the skill or integrate your knowledge. How does this new skill relate to what you already know how to do? Who can you teach the skill to? How can you make sure you use the skill often enough so that when you need it, you can call on it?
More Good Stuff
This month’s Journaling Mini-Retreat will be on Wednesday, July 19 at 7:30 pm Eastern. Click HERE to register.
I’m working on a big revamp of BOTH my Tuesday evening livestream AND my group program. Stay tuned for big announcements!
Happy Journaling!
I like to think of it this way too!
Wow, Amanda! I'm going to nurture me some 'Prosilience'! 🙌