Real-life resilience - Helen Keller

At 19 months old, a baby girl from Alabama contracted an unknown illness described by doctors as ‘an acute congestion of the stomach and brain’. The year was 1882. The girl was Helen Keller.

Devastatingly, with this illness, Keller lost her ability to see and hear.

A baby girl, surrounded by total darkness.

And yet this baby girl would learn to read and write, become the first deafblind person to graduate from university in the USA, and then go on to be a prolific writer throughout her lifetime. Simply incredible!

Keller first learned how to read and write at the age of seven. She was taught by a local teacher named Anne Sullivan, herself partially blind. Sullivan would give Keller items to hold and draw the words on her hand. At first, it was an incredibly frustrating experience for Keller, but after a couple of months of meandering the darkness, she made a huge breakthrough. She described the moment later in one of her first books:

“I stood still, my whole attention fixed upon the motions of her fingers. Suddenly I felt a misty consciousness as of something forgotten—a thrill of returning thought; and somehow the mystery of language was revealed to me. I knew then that w-a-t-e-r meant the wonderful cool something that was flowing over my hand. The living word awakened my soul, gave it light, hope, set it free!”

Free with this new knowledge, Keller began learning words for other familiar objects. From that first moment, she had unlocked a dormant power and went on to become a world-renowned speaker, author, and advocate for the rights for people with disabilities. Nothing held her back as she travelled to over 40 countries throughout her lifetime.

Keller’s life is an example of resilience against all odds. Dealt a tough hand in life, she made the most of what she was given. Even though she was afforded the opportunity to work with a teacher like Sullivan, she still had to overcome the challenges herself. No one did it for her.

Whatever challenges exist for us in the week ahead, they likely can’t compare to the struggle of learning to read and write while blind and deaf. So here’s the way forward when the next major challenge confronts us:

1. Remember that our challenges are likely not as difficult as Keller’s. That puts things into immediate perspective.

2. We can recognize that communication is critical to the human experience. Keller needed to acquire an ability to communicate to build connections and be able to express herself. We all yearn to communicate effectively, to be seen and heard. This is a lesson in empathy, when we take a minute to understand other’s needs.

3. Be grateful for what we have. Just appreciating the simple fact that we can see and/or hear is something in itself.

4. Don’t let anything confine us, whether it’s a personal ailment or another challenge related to our situation. Break through challenges by believing we can do it.

5. Take small steps. The act of moving forward is more important than almost everything else. If a monumental project looms in front of us, what’s the first small thing we can do? Let’s start there, get it done, and move onto the next. Keller didn’t go from knowing nothing to writing speeches - she learnt one word, then another, and another…

6. Remember that it’s almost impossible to go it alone. Without a teacher like Sullivan, who knows what would have become of Helen Keller. Also, this is actually an opportunity to see ourselves on both sides of the same coin. Perhaps we can imagine that we are the Sullivan to someone else’s Keller. Maybe it’s our mission to practice patience, seek innovative teaching methods, and provide plenty of support to someone else right now.

Have a wonderful week ahead, and stay resilient friends!

I’ve been studying resilience tools for a decade and I teach workplaces and individuals how to use these strategies in everyday life. If you or your team need to improve mindset and mental health, these are preventative ideas and practical tools to help us all thrive. Let’s set up a discovery call today.

Carre @ Resilient Marketing Minds