This week, I’m attending a training in Boston on Thursday and Friday which meant that I was cramming 5 days of work into 3 because I’d be out of the office 2 days. And, I’d committed to attend a session at my company’s Employee Assistance Program yesterday morning on “Resiliency for Human Resources Professionals”. I considered skipping this session given the fact that I was facing two whole days out of the office when I remembered Gabrielle Bernstein’s response when people tell her they don’t have time to meditate, Bernstein always replies, “Do you have time to feel like shit?” I, for one, do not so off to the resiliency session I went - - but not until I swung through Dunkin’ Donuts for a cold brew coffee. It was raining and traffic in town was clogged. I snaked down a side street and passed an apartment a friend had rented after staying with us a period of time after his marriage failed. A former friend. And, it appeared this person had moved – their small, cluttered porch was now tidy. I went about my day and as I did, I considered resilience - - a topic which has long fascinated me. That night, returning home from work, I learned that our former friend had in fact moved at the end of March and then I watched the Bruins game. I like hockey for many reasons – it moves quickly and hockey players are resilient. They squirt their own damn water bottles into their mouths. Whenever I see some professional athlete having water squirted into his mouth by some lackey, I’m embarrassed for both of them. You never see that shit in hockey.
On a scale of candy ass to bad ass, hockey players are on the bad ass side of the spectrum. They’re right up there with Marines. I feel that I’m fairly resilient but my resiliency was waning a bit after enduring both winter and the Trump administration which means the yesterday’s tune up was a good plan.
As I reflected back on the day and watched the Bruins battle it out against the Toronto Maple Leafs, I thought about the ways in which hockey players earn their bad ass, resilient status. During last night’s game, Toronto’s player Morgan Rielly took a puck to the face. Now, resilient though I may be, had the same happened to me, I would go lie down with an ice pack on my face and demand to see my wife. Maybe Rielly did that, but after that, he returned to the game! This is apparently a fairly common occurrence in hockey - the puck to the face and the returning.
Hockey players do not hold grudges. Sure. They may exchange harsh words and a few punches during the course of the game, but when all is said and done after the game, they line up and shake hands with one another. Yes. I realize I am oversimplifying this but by and large, it’s how it plays out. Hockey players don’t pack their shit AND FUCKING MOVE BECAUSE THEY ARE NOT CANDY ASSES!!! Wait. Where was I? Oh yes. Hockey players. Resilient mofo’s. They face their opponent. They shake hands after being challenged. Sure – they may not be besties but they respect the other persons grit – their resilience.
Does confirmation that a relationship is dead and beyond resurrection hurt? Sure, like a puck to the face. But I don’t have time to feel like shit. I squirt my own gd water, shake it off and get back in the game.