Life is always moving. For one reason, in life in me or someone close to me, there never seems to be a break in getting where one needs to be. For me, I have had many things happen to me over four decades of living, but each time I have bounced back from those moments of adversity, I have been more resilient than I was before it happened.

There could be many instances where I could say that I was resilient, but nothing tops them all than the year 2020. Early in the year, I was living on my own and the situation was precarious to say the least. Through time and eventually the height of the COVID -19 pandemic, I had to leave that first apartment and move in with my parents for some time. It was an uncomfortable situation as the world itself was challenging. Day services were on a staggered schedule by social distancing, my mother was working at home, and my dad was there too. It was like I took two steps back in a situation that was out of control.

I  had weekly psychotherapy via Zoom and pounded the pavement although it was by phone mostly and filling out applications for housing. I just knew that I needed to get out of my living situation although I was grateful to have it, the dynamic was challenging, and it was challenging for me to deal with. One day,  an advertisement in a local newspaper for affordable housing that had the number of the local housing authority appeared. When I called, I was disappointed to hear that it was for those fifty and older. I was disappointed to say that it was happening when everyone else was looking for housing across the world. But the next day, I would receive a phone call from that same number, it would be who I would come to know as my former property manager, they said that although I was not eligible for that location, those units were available in another location to come to the office and complete paperwork.

After going to the office and completing paperwork, we went and toured the building where I currently reside. While not meeting all my requirements, it had enough to meet my needs, for one being close to my parents. It was the prayer that I kept asking for to be answered when everything else was falling through the world. I was able to get moved in the apartment before the holiday resurgence that year. It is a shock to say that I have been living here for over four years now.

Another moment of resilience was when I was living with my parents, and they were having their home renovated. A contractor busted a pipe and half of the house was flooded requiring us to be housed in a local hotel. As ironic as it may be, I was expected to receive a leadership in recovery award from my Behavioral Health Managed Care Organization (BH-MCO) in the coming weeks. It could have been the moment that could have broken me, but it was what made me stronger. I will not lie that I may have said some derogatory words in the process, but we got through it, just like anything else in my life.

One of the biggest challenges that I know that anyone could imagine in this lifetime is those early days of the COVID-19 Pandemic. There were a lot of unknowns, many, many changes that happened and so much more that made the world change. On top of the pandemic, I was displaced from my first apartment, living in my parents office at their house.

From there I had a small space where I had to use their computer to connect to the outside world to do whatever I needed to do virtually. I was grateful to be still employed for half of my allotted weekly hours during the lockdown, but there were also challenges as I was not adhering to my medication regimen and there were more challenging moments than I experienced on my own due to the family dynamic that I have with my parents. Being constantly at home was not helping the situation either.

We shopped for things online, did pickups at grocery stores, and if I could get food pantry to help us get by in those times. So, three of us under the same roof day in and day out were very unhealthy and challenging to say the least. There were a couple of times where my psychotherapist thankfully intervened or I feel that I would have either been in the psychiatric hospital or jail. It made me value my psychotherapist more because of their ability to get, mostly me through those challenges.

As time goes on, I know that I am resilient for the ability to bounce back from adversity like no one could ever believe. It may be because I have had so many behaviors growing up, a loving family that has taught me so much about not giving up and dealing with the hand you are dealt with or that you just must always do your best. I will admit that I do not always think that way, but part of me is that you must give it a shot and I do have to credit my immediate family for giving me the constant courage to do things that I may have never  believed that was possible. It has taught me to be resilient and be the best that I can be when going for what I want.