I was thinking and discussing with a friend today about resilience – what makes some more resilient than others – to cope with things that come up in life?
Tramping provides lots of analogies for this kind of subject. Case in point: on the Fletcher Track at Huia, we were momentarily stumped on a hill track with a dog-leg. The track marker was unobstrusive i.e. we didn’t see it. Obviously most people didn’t see it, and followed the desire lines straight up, then off to the right trying to find the way - eventually finding their way back to the dog-leg or maybe scampering up despite lack of track.
Indeed, we decided, reflection is a key factor in resilience. Being able to reflect on where you are, in the context of everything else. Being objective – and having perspective too.
And being able to navigate back to the last reference point (i.e. marker) you saw, when you were alive/ safe, and then start again from there.
Ahem…:-)
It's interesting to note, that I don't think I could pick out any people who I'd call trampers who aren't what I'd call resilient.
Does tramping breed resilience? Or do only the resilient keep tramping so as to become trampers?
Perhaps a combination...
At any rate I do reckon the world definitely needs more trampy types.
If you're interested, this is an excellent read:
Deveson, Anne, Resilience
