Adapt and thrive

I cannot talk about resilience without sharing about my amazing family.  I am one of my parents’ five children. Both my parents were born in Malaysia.     

My dad had ten siblings, only eight survived childhood.  By the time I was born, he had lost his dad and another two siblings, leaving the seven of them and my grandmother.

My mum came from a patriarchal family.  Her dad had three wives.  My mum was the youngest daughter of the first wife.  She had an interesting and challenging childhood, living in proximity with her other “mothers” and half-siblings.  Through this, she had kept up her optimism, and saw every challenge as an opportunity rather than an obstacle.  When she finished her junior high school, she was denied the opportunity to further her studies.  She then worked in different jobs before marrying my dad in her late twenties.  

Early in their marriage, my parents left their hometown for better job opportunities.  This was how we ended up in the southern part of Malaysia.

At the beginning of my high school, my parents decided to move to Australia.  There were many reasons behind this, the main one was to provide us better opportunity for higher education.  I will never forget the day that my family of seven boarded the plane to Melbourne.    

Starting a new life in a new country was full of challenges.  My dad left a very good job.  My mum spoke very limited English.  My siblings and I were all in our tender and fragile age, ranging from 11 to 19 years old.  For many people, going through adolescence is tumultuous enough, let alone going through it in a completely strange environment.

My mum’s optimism and enthusiasm had always been a strong support and pivotal pillar for her children, and her husband.  This was even more so in a new country.  And so, as a family, we conquered the challenges and adapted well to a new country, a new culture, and a new climate.  We had thrived on the change. 

We owe this to our parents who had modelled a life of resilience through their ability to adapt to changes and thrive on challenges.

And this… IS RESILIENCE!

Resilience is to adapt to changes and thrive on challenges.

The lesson I learnt: develop a growth mindset; expose ourselves to new challenges in life, and embrace changes as opportunities to grow.