Patricia Handscheigel in her Huffington Post article of December 15, 2008 describes the singlemost important trait required to be a trailblazer--fearlessness. I would add resiliency as a closely tied second. It does boil down to an unemotional assessment of what is actually occurring in the present vs. mulling over the past or fearing the future. As Susan Merit of Yahoo stated in that article: "It almost boils down to just saying "What's the worst that could possibly happen? and then realizing that in most cases even if you didn't achieve your goal, the outcome wouldn't be all that tragic." What makes one person withdraw in fear and another press forward, gunning it so as to leave skid marks in her wake? Resiliency!

Andy Andrews would say "it's to persist without exception." The ability to bounce back from change is a hallmark of resiliency. Wilkipedia states that the expressions of resilency are: #1. good outcomes regardless of high-risk status, #2. constant competence under stress and #3. recovery from trauma. I think our current economy qualifies as "being under trauma," don't you? The question is: will you move forward with resiliency? draw back and do nothing, or cower in fear and petrify into a pillar of salt?

The Bible and many other great books that feed the soul tell us to "fear not." In fact, it's one of the most used phrases. Why? Fear paralyzes action; it makes a person unable to function, or to function very ineffectively. When poor decisions are made in the fear mode, they beget more poor decisions. There is a tendency to overreact to minutia and make "mountains" out of even tiny issues...which generates even more fear and more inaction. Those in this mode are likely to think there is "no end" to the perceived threat which makes them fairly unpleasant to be around, creating the reality they so despise!

In order to foster resiliency, we must evaluate what we have control of and what is obviously out of our control. The Serenity Prayer written centuries ago by St. Francis of Assisi is still as true today. I encourage you to find it online, print it out in size 20 font or larger and paste it where you will see it every morning. Resiliency gives you the chance to endure future negative events and keep even the worst scenario in perspective. Fear not and be resilient--that's the way to enter 2009. Let it be so!