Persistence. Resilience. What is it that makes some people persist in the face of great difficulties, when others simply give up? What makes some people highly resilient, refusing to give up even after many difficult experiences?
Given how much we tend to demand of ourselves and others, given how much we ask from our lives, it’s worth having a second and third look at what this whole resilience and persistence issue might be about. We just might be able to learn to be more resilient and persistent, if we want! Do you want to be like those steel cables in the picture, strong, resilient, flexible and unbreakable? Do you want to accomplish your immediate goals, and make incremental progress on your loftiest goals? If so, read on.
Therapy, the Human mind, and life in general are 
Most of us complain about “stress,” but we have a superficial understanding of its sources. Like any complex psychological experience, stress has many sources and causes. One of these is that we are not skilled at being idle, doing nothing. It is as if we have lost our “neutral” gear and have to be moving and doing at all times.
In prior blog entries, I discussed ways that 
Why do depression and despair paralyze us? Okay, not “why,” as in, “can I have YET ANOTHER more or less useless scientific explanation of clinical depression?” But rather, what is it about depression in the moment, in this very moment, experientially, that makes it so much better to do nothing, than to do something? And, how can I recognize when my despair is an illusion, versus when it is justified by the facts of my life? And what is to be done about the inaction resulting from despair? Like the subject of the classic drawing “Melancholia” featured here, we are surrounded by wonder and yet often choose to do nothing, wallowing in despair.
