I was very touched and impressed by the speech by Queensland Premier Anna Bligh as she spoke not only of the devastation caused by the loss of life and property in the floods which are wreaking havoc across large parts of Australia at the moment, but also of the shared determination to pull together to get through this and work on getting back to ‘normal’ life eventually.
Each day further details are surfacing of destruction and of heroism, of despair and of optimism, and many have taken hope and strength from her words: ‘As we weep for what we have lost, and as we grieve for family and friends and we confront the challenge that is before us, I want us to remember who we are. We are Queenslanders. We're the people that they breed tough, north of the border. We're the ones that they knock down, and we get up again.’
She blended a realistic appraisal of the severity of the situation and an accepting acknowledgement of its enormous physical and emotional affects on people with a statement of the powerful intent to stand strong in the face of adversity. In doing so she drew an inspiring word picture we can all identify with and relate to in some way, drawing on the archetype of the ‘tough Queenslander’, bred that way through generations of dealing with a country that deals in rigorous extremes of drought, flood and fire.
Sometimes those stories we tell ourselves about ‘who we are’ can uphold us when we are experiencing times of loss and of challenge. This doesn’t mean that we deny what is happening, or the way we feel about it. It means that we find the strength and resilience to endure all of that and to pick ourselves up and stand again, and to keep on going.
Whatever the circumstances of your life – allow yourselves to feel, to grieve, and to weep if need be. Then remember who you are and draw on that strength to get through today and to begin to look forward with hope to the days to come.
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