Why Resilience Matters Now More Than Ever

A personal story and an invitation to choose a new way to be.

The last couple of weeks have been a whirlwind.

Not the “busy but manageable” kind of whirlwind.

The life-is-happening-faster-than-I-can-process kind.

The kind that once upon a time would have sent me into a full spiral.

It started with a letter from the school board.

My daughters’ school, a place they adore, a community we cherish, is closing its doors in June. My oldest is going into Grade 12, and many schools simply don’t take Grade 12s. So instead of savoring a final year, we’ve been thrown into applications, uncertainty, tears, and the heartbreak of imagining graduation without the friends and teachers they love.

Around the same time, we had an unexpected and traumatic death in the extended family.
And then, in beautiful contrast, a three-day stretch of incredible joy as we celebrated a beautiful wedding while simultaneously hosting friends from out of town, and preparing to MC the wedding reception.

Meanwhile, our fridge broke.

Then our shower started dripping through the kitchen ceiling.

My mom’s dog got seriously ill, so she called me crying every day.

And right in the middle of it all, I received news that a friend who seems vibrant, healthy and holistic had been diagnosed with stage-four cancer that had already spread to her liver.

Of course, all of this happened while running a full roster of work, clients, and life.

It has been… a lot.

I am sure you’ve had a season like this too where challenges don’t arrive one at a time, but stack themselves all at once, leaving you wondering how you’re supposed to keep going.

The old me would have crumbled.

If this had happened years ago, I would have been:

• unable to sleep
• overwhelmed
• spinning in anxiety
• unable to focus
• lost in catastrophizing
• a complete victim of circumstance

I would have been holding my breath through every moment of the day.

I share this with humility, because I didn’t always know what resilience really meant. I didn’t always know how to stay grounded in the storm. I didn’t always know that resilience is something we build, something we practice not something we magically have.

I used to think resilience belonged only to the “strong ones.”

The last few weeks have shown me something profoundly different.

The new me - the more resilient me - chose something different.

When life piled up, instead of collapsing inward, something wiser rose in me.

I knew I had to expand my resilience-enhancing practices, not abandon them.

• I extended my morning routine.
• I carved space for longer yoga and deeper breathing.
• I took mid-day pauses to practice loving-kindness meditation. (Here’s a link to a beautiful 10-minute one from the University Health Network. It truly helped center me in compassion.)
• I walked my dog in silence, no podcast, no noise, just breath, noticing the sunlight, letting the quiet recalibrate my nervous system.
• Sometimes I even hummed or sang softly as I cooked, stimulating the vagus nerve and loosening the knots in my chest.
• I laughed intentionally with little clips of comedy while preparing dinner.
• I protected my sleep fiercely: early bedtime, warm bath, slow yoga, gentle unwinding.
• I let sunlight hit my face every morning like a medicine.
• I practiced gratitude, real, embodied gratitude: hand on heart, thinking of all I was grateful for until the emotion brought tears to my eyes or shivers.

And something shifted.

Even with everything happening around me (school closure, grief, illness, financial surprises, logistical chaos, heartbreak for my children, heartbreak for my friend) I felt grounded.

I felt centered.

I even felt moments of joy.

Not because life was easy.

Not because I am superhuman.

But because resilience is a savings account. Every breath, every pause, every walk in silence, every moment of gratitude is a deposit. Eventually, the balance grows enough to steady you when life withdraws more than you ever expected. These practices, accumulated over years, met me exactly where I needed them. They didn’t remove the hard things, but they kept my heart open. They steadied me when everything felt unstable. They helped me stay present, calm, and compassionate to myself and to others.

This is why resilience matters now.

Not someday.

Not when the crisis hits.

But now, before we think we need it.

Because when the storm arrives and it always does your practices become your anchor.

Resilience isn’t about bouncing back. It’s about staying centered while life happens.

Life doesn’t wait for the perfect moment to collapse into chaos. The hard things often arrive together, layered and relentless. With the right habits, mindset, and daily micro-practices, you can meet life from a place of strength and softness at the same time.

That’s why we teach resilience the way we do.

It’s why our graduates experience such powerful change in themselves and in their clients.

It’s why this work is more urgent than ever.

We live in an era where people are burning out faster, carrying more, and holding it all silently.

Resilience isn’t a luxury anymore.

It’s a necessity.

It’s a lifeline.

And it is absolutely teachable.

If you feel called to help others (and yourself) live with more ease, strength, and groundedness…

…then I want to invite you into something special.

The 20th cohort of the Certified Resilience Coach Program begins this January.

This past month reminded me exactly why I do this work and why the world needs more resilience coaches now. When we learn these practices, embody them, and teach them, we don’t just change our own lives. We become a stabilizing force for the people we serve, our families, our teams, and our communities.

Our 20th offering is a major milestone, and we’ll be celebrating it with a “Power of 20” campaign: giveaways, tools, practices, and daily inspiration.

But more importantly, this is an opportunity to learn a new way to coach and a new way to be.

To embody the calm you wish to bring to others.

To learn the neuroscience, the tools, and the practices that create true, sustainable change.

To transform your life and the lives of the people you serve.

If you’ve been waiting for the right moment, perhaps this is it.

Learn more about the 20th Certified Resilience Coach Program here.

With love,
Monica