Resilience

When I hear the word 'resilience', a story comes to my mind which I have grown up listening to. The story goes like this: 

Once upon a time, in a forest. There lived a huge tree and near that tree lived a weak small sapling. They were neighbors. The tree was always engaged in self flattery. He was very proud of his huge structure. He thought that he was very superior and considered the sapling inferior to him. However, the sapling did not feel inferior. He was very humble and grateful for his form. He never complained and was not proud of anything. One night, a ferocious storm hit the forest. Very strong winds blew. The tree fell down and it could not stand up again as it broke. On the other hand, the sapling bent down and had a really tough time too but it stood up again. 

This is a very simple and innocent story. Now, when I think about it, it holds more deeper meanings than what I understood back then. The sapling teaches us so much. It is so resilient that it withstood the storm. Of course, it went through a lot and still stood up. Resilience is a state of mind, it is an attitude and does not depend on the outer appearance. Resilience comes with humility. When we are humble, we have a flexible mindset. We can bend down, without breaking. Then, we can stand up again as strong as ever. Adversities are the inevitable reality of our life. Miseries are bound to come. We can't control them but we can surely control our attitude. We should face every storm of our life with humility. Humility gives us flexibility and that is the strength we need to tolerate any pain. Pride always leads to our destruction as in the case of the tree. It makes us rigid and flexibility is the key to a happy life. 

True strength comes from the core and not from the external appearance. Resilience comes from humility. Hence, humility is a quality we all should aspire for. Not only does it make us a better person, but it also makes us a stronger person.