November 3, 2023 • 10 mins
Resilience is a rich word that encompasses strength, endurance, determination and toughness, yet also implies adaptability and flexibility. In today's episode, resilience is discussed at the level of the group (the Lebanese population) and at the level of the individual.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Hello there, and welcome to Casual Fridays, the podcast where weekly themes are discussed
(00:07):
through personal experiences, anecdotes and some storytelling.
I am your host Dada, and this podcast is part of my I read a lot channel on YouTube, where
I read fairy tales, short stories, soldier stories, poetry, letters, excerpts, even some
Arabic text sometimes.
So if you like such content, make sure to subscribe, you'll find me on YouTube under
(00:30):
at I read aloud in the search box.
You can also find me on Instagram, Tik Tok and X also under at I read aloud.
I also want to know that this podcast airs every Friday on the following platforms, YouTube,
Apple podcasts, Amazon music, Google podcasts, iHeartRadio, Samsung podcasts, Podcast Index,
(00:54):
Amazon Notes, RSS and Spotify.
Today's topic is on resilience.
And oh my, what a rich word that is.
Resilient implies strength and endurance, also adaptability.
It also implies determination and toughness, yet also flexibility.
(01:18):
Look at it this way.
To be resilient in the face of any adversity, you have to be strong and tough, yet be willing
to adapt.
And you have to endure the situation and be determined to reach the end of that situation.
Yet you have to be flexible enough to bend and even be elastic where needed to reach
(01:38):
the end of that situation or adversity.
So such a rich word deserves a whole episode.
And I will discuss resilience in two contexts today.
The context of resilience in a group and the context of resilience in an individual.
Let us begin with resilience in the context of a group of people.
(02:01):
And such a group could be as large as the population of a whole country or a smaller
group of people, let's say the employees of a company.
And an even smaller group of people could be at the level of family.
If I'm going to discuss the example of resilience in a group, in a population, I will of course
(02:21):
have to take on the example of the population of Lebanon.
It's my own country after all.
And you have certainly faced and continue to face many adversities as a people.
And you are certainly renowned for our resilience.
Lebanon actually became its own country, its own independent entity as a democracy in 1943.
(02:46):
It was right after World War II when France divided the state of the greater Lebanon into
Syria, Lebanon and Palestine.
So Lebanon in effect is only 80 years old.
It's not even a century old.
It is a country still in its infancy, realistically speaking, and a newborn country faces many
(03:07):
challenges and traumas on its way to young adulthood.
The main challenge that is still unresolved today in Lebanon is governance.
How to govern a highly literate people with at least 18 religious sects and Palestinian
refugees and also Syrian refugees.
(03:29):
So this newborn country does not only have to take on its own problems, but also the
problems of its neighboring countries.
And all this is happening in 10,452 square meters or in miles, that's 4,036 square miles.
It's barely a dot on the world map and it is constantly the center stage in world news.
(03:55):
Even today, this lack of governance has led us to a country with no president.
And this is not the first time we have Lebanon with no president at its helm.
In fact, Lebanon only knew peace from 1946, its inception, till 1974.
That's 18 years in which Lebanon was named the Switzerland of the East.
(04:21):
Eventually, the governance issue caused a civil war to break out in 1975 and that raged
on till 1990.
And then further governance issues caused the liberation war to break out from January
through October of 1990.
The liberation war ended in 1990 and was short-lived because Syrian troops interfered in this liberation
(04:47):
war and it's resulted in Syrian troops remaining on Lebanese lands from 1990 through 2005.
And we cannot forget that throughout the civil war, there were also several mini wars.
So in 1978, there was an attack by Israel on the south of Lebanon and the result of that
(05:10):
was establishment of unifil to keep the peace.
Between 1982 through 1985, Israel led an invasion of Lebanon and it reached actually Lebanon's
capital Beirut.
And then it withdrew in 1985 to the southern parts of Lebanon where the troops remained
(05:32):
there till the year 2000.
Then in 2006, there was an air raid led by Israel over the Lebanese lands, after which
there was an attempt at a ground invasion that actually failed.
Of course, as a result of all these wars, the economy in Lebanon has suffered greatly.
(05:53):
Not only was there continued and sustained strive to maintain businesses and a regular
working life and a normalcy in life in general, Lebanon also experienced two main crashes
of the Lebanese lira, one in 1988 and the more recent crash in 2019 that also was led
(06:15):
by the failure of the banking system.
Add to all that, coronavirus that struck the whole world for about two years and halted
also the economy even further.
So no wonder Lebanese people are known for their resilience in the face of adversity
and war.
(06:37):
After each of these adversities, Lebanese people had to pick themselves up again and
start from scratch.
Those who had some capital would establish a new business and provide jobs for many employees.
Those who had the opportunity to integrate did so and would send money to their families
in Lebanon.
Local and international humanitarian groups would help fight poverty and homelessness
(07:01):
and famine.
And with every new crisis, we the Lebanese people think at first that this is the end
and that there is no coming back from this tragedy.
But then we find the will and the strength to fight and survive.
We adapt and we stand strong and we endure.
We find the necessary flexibility to bend and shape ourselves into a new reality and
(07:24):
we endure until we are okay again and have a semblance of a normal life again.
I mean, if that is not resilience, I don't know what is.
However, is all this resilience healthy for the individual?
Is it good to be so strong and adaptable and tough for the individual human being?
(07:44):
Resilience for the individual means tapping down emotions and denying one's own feelings
and stepping on one's own well-being for the survival of the larger group of people,
starting with the survival of the family, the smaller family unit, the survival of the
larger family unit, the survival of the need society around that family unit, and then
(08:06):
the survival of the people on a country level.
And of course, in the interim, you have a survival at the workplace, whether you're
a businessman, an owner, entrepreneur, or an employee.
And this resilience in the end takes its toll and the toll to pay is mental health and emotional
crippling and sometimes even physical ailments.
(08:30):
Many people who still live in Lebanon today are on antidepressants or sleeping pills or
both and it is all because they have to be resilient enough to survive.
So they numb themselves to their bitter reality and live in a haze of denial that leads them
to find little joy in life.
But what is the alternative?
(08:51):
I would love to give you a magic formula that would make you all feel better, but the truth
is that there is none.
People have to go through what they have to go through and only time will heal their wounds.
In time, they will see the beauty of life again and have hope again.
It will start at the family level when they witness a new child being born or a blossoming
(09:16):
love being celebrated or a professional success of a youngster who is still full of hope and
life.
And healing slowly starts anew.
And with this slow healing, a new stronger person emerges from the darkness and the ashes.
Resilience would have played its role in the breaking down and then the building up of
(09:42):
a whole human being.
In her book My Sister's Keeper, Jody P. Koo writes, and I quote,
The human capacity for burden is like bamboo, far more flexible than you'd ever believe
at first glance.
End quote.
And so we constantly rise again like the phoenix from the ashes.
(10:05):
This brings me to the end of this episode.
Next week's topic shall be on heroism.
I hope you'll tune in then.
For now, I wish you a lovely weekend and I send you all my love.
Till next Friday.
Hello there, and welcome to Casual Fridays, the podcast where weekly themes are discussed
(00:07):
through personal experiences, anecdotes and some storytelling.
I am your host Dada, and this podcast is part of my I read a lot channel on YouTube, where
I read fairy tales, short stories, soldier stories, poetry, letters, excerpts, even some
Arabic text sometimes.
So if you like such content, make sure to subscribe, you'll find me on YouTube under
(00:30):
at I read aloud in the search box.
You can also find me on Instagram, Tik Tok and X also under at I read aloud.
I also want to know that this podcast airs every Friday on the following platforms, YouTube,
Apple podcasts, Amazon music, Google podcasts, iHeartRadio, Samsung podcasts, Podcast Index,
(00:54):
Amazon Notes, RSS and Spotify.
Today's topic is on resilience.
And oh my, what a rich word that is.
Resilient implies strength and endurance, also adaptability.
It also implies determination and toughness, yet also flexibility.
(01:18):
Look at it this way.
To be resilient in the face of any adversity, you have to be strong and tough, yet be willing
to adapt.
And you have to endure the situation and be determined to reach the end of that situation.
Yet you have to be flexible enough to bend and even be elastic where needed to reach
(01:38):
the end of that situation or adversity.
So such a rich word deserves a whole episode.
And I will discuss resilience in two contexts today.
The context of resilience in a group and the context of resilience in an individual.
Let us begin with resilience in the context of a group of people.
(02:01):
And such a group could be as large as the population of a whole country or a smaller
group of people, let's say the employees of a company.
And an even smaller group of people could be at the level of family.
If I'm going to discuss the example of resilience in a group, in a population, I will of course
(02:21):
have to take on the example of the population of Lebanon.
It's my own country after all.
And you have certainly faced and continue to face many adversities as a people.
And you are certainly renowned for our resilience.
Lebanon actually became its own country, its own independent entity as a democracy in 1943.
(02:46):
It was right after World War II when France divided the state of the greater Lebanon into
Syria, Lebanon and Palestine.
So Lebanon in effect is only 80 years old.
It's not even a century old.
It is a country still in its infancy, realistically speaking, and a newborn country faces many
(03:07):
challenges and traumas on its way to young adulthood.
The main challenge that is still unresolved today in Lebanon is governance.
How to govern a highly literate people with at least 18 religious sects and Palestinian
refugees and also Syrian refugees.
(03:29):
So this newborn country does not only have to take on its own problems, but also the
problems of its neighboring countries.
And all this is happening in 10,452 square meters or in miles, that's 4,036 square miles.
It's barely a dot on the world map and it is constantly the center stage in world news.
(03:55):
Even today, this lack of governance has led us to a country with no president.
And this is not the first time we have Lebanon with no president at its helm.
In fact, Lebanon only knew peace from 1946, its inception, till 1974.
That's 18 years in which Lebanon was named the Switzerland of the East.
(04:21):
Eventually, the governance issue caused a civil war to break out in 1975 and that raged
on till 1990.
And then further governance issues caused the liberation war to break out from January
through October of 1990.
The liberation war ended in 1990 and was short-lived because Syrian troops interfered in this liberation
(04:47):
war and it's resulted in Syrian troops remaining on Lebanese lands from 1990 through 2005.
And we cannot forget that throughout the civil war, there were also several mini wars.
So in 1978, there was an attack by Israel on the south of Lebanon and the result of that
(05:10):
was establishment of unifil to keep the peace.
Between 1982 through 1985, Israel led an invasion of Lebanon and it reached actually Lebanon's
capital Beirut.
And then it withdrew in 1985 to the southern parts of Lebanon where the troops remained
(05:32):
there till the year 2000.
Then in 2006, there was an air raid led by Israel over the Lebanese lands, after which
there was an attempt at a ground invasion that actually failed.
Of course, as a result of all these wars, the economy in Lebanon has suffered greatly.
(05:53):
Not only was there continued and sustained strive to maintain businesses and a regular
working life and a normalcy in life in general, Lebanon also experienced two main crashes
of the Lebanese lira, one in 1988 and the more recent crash in 2019 that also was led
(06:15):
by the failure of the banking system.
Add to all that, coronavirus that struck the whole world for about two years and halted
also the economy even further.
So no wonder Lebanese people are known for their resilience in the face of adversity
and war.
(06:37):
After each of these adversities, Lebanese people had to pick themselves up again and
start from scratch.
Those who had some capital would establish a new business and provide jobs for many employees.
Those who had the opportunity to integrate did so and would send money to their families
in Lebanon.
Local and international humanitarian groups would help fight poverty and homelessness
(07:01):
and famine.
And with every new crisis, we the Lebanese people think at first that this is the end
and that there is no coming back from this tragedy.
But then we find the will and the strength to fight and survive.
We adapt and we stand strong and we endure.
We find the necessary flexibility to bend and shape ourselves into a new reality and
(07:24):
we endure until we are okay again and have a semblance of a normal life again.
I mean, if that is not resilience, I don't know what is.
However, is all this resilience healthy for the individual?
Is it good to be so strong and adaptable and tough for the individual human being?
(07:44):
Resilience for the individual means tapping down emotions and denying one's own feelings
and stepping on one's own well-being for the survival of the larger group of people,
starting with the survival of the family, the smaller family unit, the survival of the
larger family unit, the survival of the need society around that family unit, and then
(08:06):
the survival of the people on a country level.
And of course, in the interim, you have a survival at the workplace, whether you're
a businessman, an owner, entrepreneur, or an employee.
And this resilience in the end takes its toll and the toll to pay is mental health and emotional
crippling and sometimes even physical ailments.
(08:30):
Many people who still live in Lebanon today are on antidepressants or sleeping pills or
both and it is all because they have to be resilient enough to survive.
So they numb themselves to their bitter reality and live in a haze of denial that leads them
to find little joy in life.
But what is the alternative?
(08:51):
I would love to give you a magic formula that would make you all feel better, but the truth
is that there is none.
People have to go through what they have to go through and only time will heal their wounds.
In time, they will see the beauty of life again and have hope again.
It will start at the family level when they witness a new child being born or a blossoming
(09:16):
love being celebrated or a professional success of a youngster who is still full of hope and
life.
And healing slowly starts anew.
And with this slow healing, a new stronger person emerges from the darkness and the ashes.
Resilience would have played its role in the breaking down and then the building up of
(09:42):
a whole human being.
In her book My Sister's Keeper, Jody P. Koo writes, and I quote,
The human capacity for burden is like bamboo, far more flexible than you'd ever believe
at first glance.
End quote.
And so we constantly rise again like the phoenix from the ashes.
(10:05):
This brings me to the end of this episode.
Next week's topic shall be on heroism.
I hope you'll tune in then.
For now, I wish you a lovely weekend and I send you all my love.
Till next Friday.
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