Resilience Through the Hard Bits

Kia ora and welcome back to The One Life. Today we're talking about resilience – that thing everyone seems to mention, but rarely when life feels fair and breezy. Have you ever felt like challenges just keep coming, one stacked on top of another, and you’re meant to bounce back like some human trampoline? Resilience isn’t about pretending everything’s fine, or just toughening up. Sometimes it’s about finding practical ways to get through the day. I know, because I’ve had my fair share of rough patches. Clinical anxiety’s been part of my story for a good while. But the hardest really was when I returned to work in a senior finance spot at a hotel group and something had shifted. The owners, for reasons I never got to the bottom of, turned cold pretty much overnight. Suddenly I was on the receiving end of bullying – not just from the owner, but with a few senior managers joining in. Imagine having to chair two-hour finance meetings, knowing the owner would try to trip me up or embarrass me just before we started. I’d push through, do my job, but always left those meetings feeling wrung out. While this was all happening, I was caring for my parent with terminal cancer. My bandwidth for conflict was just gone, so eventually I gave up the job. Not every battle’s worth fighting, especially when there’s only so much of you to go around. Through all this, I realised resilience isn’t about fighting every battle or bottling things up. It’s about recognising your limits and finding support, wherever you can. That’s a big reason why I started the wellness section on this site and developed the Just Be Nice NZ app. It’s packed with practical tools that have helped me – breathing exercises, reminders to show kindness, a way to share moments that spark a bit of hope. If you’re working through stress or anxiety, maybe give it a look. Sometimes a little support gets you through the hard bits. Keep in mind: you don’t have to do it all alone. Resilience is more about steady progress than superhuman recovery. Remember to have fun!