Boris the Spider

I have a pet spider.  Well, technically "he" (I have no idea whether he is a male or female spider) lives right outside my window.  He's been there the past 2 weeks or so, and we've come to share a bond together, as he is there when I go to bed at night and again when I wake up every morning.  I've named him Boris - after The Who song of course!

I have to give credit to Boris - he's been through an awful lot the past couple of weeks.  First off, he went through a lot just to get to be outside my window (I am currently living on the 57th floor in a studio apartment).  So, he clearly has the endurance to climb what must be like, to him, at least a bazillion miles or so.

Boris also had to fight off at least one intruder spider.  Within a few days after he finished spinning his web, he had an unwelcome house guest.  At one point, there were two spiders on the same web.  I don't know what exactly happened with the second spider, but now there is only just Boris (RIP intruder spider). 

Finally, if you've ever spent time near the lakefront in Chicago, you will understand some of the challenges that Boris has had to face.  Since he arrived on my window, we've had a couple of major thunderstorms, one hail storm, and several days with really high winds!  Boris has had to completely re-spin his web several times over the course of these past 2 weeks.  There have been times, when I have looked out my window first thing in the morning only to see Boris gone and his web all twisted and frayed.  By the time I come back to my apartment in the evening, he's back with a brand new web!

I know what you are probably thinking - "He's lost it!"  Not at all.  I am telling you all about Boris, because I am incredibly impressed by his resilience.  We hear a lot about resilience these days - even before the COVID-19 pandemic.  For example, interventions focusing on resilience are frequently offered as solutions to professional burn-out.  Angela Duckworth has talked about resilience in a very popular TED talk and best-selling book called Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance.

Resilience, at least in this context, is defined as the capacity to recover quickly from difficulties.  I like the alternative definition better - the ability of an object or substance to spring back into shape; elasticity.  Resilient individuals, and spiders, have that knack to easily (at least it seems that way) to bounce back and "spring back into shape."

I have found, in virtually every case, that resilient individuals maintain a positive attitude, even in the face of adversity.  Viktor Frankl, Holocaust survivor, psychiatrist, and author of Man's Search for Meaning had this to say about resilience, "Everything can be taken from man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms - to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's way."

Harvard Business School professor, Nancy Koehn recently authored a book called Forged in Crisis: The Making of Five Courageous Leaders (which is excellent, by the way), which provides a case study of crisis leadership.  I was struck by the fact that all five leaders had one thing in common - a positive attitude.  Dr. Koehn said, "Consider the freedom we each have, even in very difficult situations, to CHOOSE our own attitude.  This fundamental truth, as hidden as it often seems, is a source of empowerment and possibility.  It can fuel our survival and inner growth."

Is it really that simple?  I think so.  In my own experience, regardless of the situation, having a positive attitude makes it so much easier to deal even with the most difficult of challenges.  As my wife always says, "The power of a positive attitude!"  She is absolutely right.  Attitude makes all the difference in the world.

Boris keeps coming back.  Again, again, and again.  It would be easy for him to give up (after all, he's just a spider), but he doesn't.  Be resilient like Boris - have a positive attitude!