Weekend Words

From  Sisu - The Finnish Art of Courage  by Joanna Nylund

It's a myth.  But it's also a reality.  It's a national icon.  It's a gut-felt quality.

Rather than the stamina to run up a mountain, sisu is the strength it takes to put one foot in front of the other.

Above all, sisu is a collective choice.  We are strong together. - Emilia Lahti, sisu expert.

Finns view silence as a resource, not an embarrassment. 

The Finnish work ethic in a nutshell: hard work pays off; loyalty should be rewarded; what you see is what you get.

Strong people, like trees, might break, whereas a person of sisu may bend but can always pull themselves back into place.

Facing and overcoming challenges is key to fostering sisu.

On the other side of endurance, joy waits.

Sisu is the reserve fuel tank we didn't perhaps know we had.

Sisu is a verb.  It invites you to act, to do, to grab hold of something.

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And some thoughts from me...

One word to encompass sisu would be resilience, the ability to bounce back when life knocks you down.

The Finnish way of mindfulness is not so much 'emptying' the mind, but making the mind more 'aware', by observing the minutiae in your surroundings

Relax and observe in nature...the natural antidepressant.

While many of the other books in this genre (hygge/lagom/lykke) tend to focus on externals to give us a sense of wellbeing, sisu encourages us to focus on our 'internal' qualities and experiences.

And that really resonates with me.


From a rainy Sunday in Tasmania...

Here's something to brighten your day!

https://www.instagram.com/veryfinnishproblems/

Enjoy!

xx