Pushing Through Pain and Just Keep Going No Matter What

Soft hearts and steady spines carry us through. This mood honors your quiet strength, the power to stay flexible without losing your form. Here you’ll find reflections that help you bend when needed, breathe through challenge, and return stronger, not harder.

Strength & Resilience: Rising Beyond the Hurt

Content Note: As you read, consider the unseen battles your coworkers and staff may carry,  and what leadership looks like when we lead with understanding rather than judgment

From the earliest days of my childhood, I carried invisible wounds. I experienced sexual assault. I immigrated to a new country and faced further abuse. I lived under the expectations of adults whose approval I sought and under the bullying of peers who made me feel unseen. Something inside whispered: You’re not enough. And yet another voice replied: Watch me.

And that voice followed me into my professional life.

Throughout my career in early childhood education, in roles as director, education coordinator, and education manager, I have encountered leaders who struggled with the strength I demonstrated and the confidence I projected. They didn’t know the story behind that strength. They didn’t know what I had overcome to stand where I stood. Some worked to discredit, diminish, or overlook me. I continued to fight, not just to keep my title, but to keep uplifting the staff I led.

People saw a capable leader.
They did not see how hard I had to fight behind the scenes just to be one.

But I never gave up.
I knew God placed me in leadership for a purpose, to support those who remind me of the child I once was. To help others recognize their gifts before doubt steals their belief. I often think of the children growing up in places like where I was raised, places like Compton, where many are told they will never be anything. I know that voice all too well.

We all have potential.
Sometimes we are a little rough around the edges, but our hearts are pure.

What we need are mentors, not critics. Leaders who can see past the imperfections long enough to nurture the promise inside. If every leader could pause, step back, and choose to see potential instead of flaws, imagine what workplaces could become.

And so my resilience is more than persistence. It is my mission to ensure that no staff member, no child, no person has their potential minimized because someone else cannot recognize their worth.

Wellness Insight

Resilience is not simply enduring; it’s transforming pain into purpose. The narrative of survival, when shared, becomes a leadership asset. In fact, research confirms that authentic storytelling in leadership fosters resilience, enhances engagement, and builds psychological safety in teams. SpringerLink+1
Additionally, leadership style matters: servant-leadership practices,  which emphasize supporting others, recognizing their worth, and building community, are positively linked to employee resilience and engagement. PMC+1

Reflection for Readers

• What hidden pain have you carried that still drives you forward?

• In what ways are you proving something, to yourself or to others, instead of embracing who you already are?

• How can you transition from proving your worth to believing your worth and supporting others in believing theirs?

Key Takeaway

You are resilient because you keep going.
You are powerful because your pain became your purpose.
And the next step is not simply to persist,  it is to guide others with your persistence.

Organizational Bridge to SILWELL-C

This story reminds us that within every organization, there are staff members silently proving their worth rather than being seen for their inherent value. Leadership that only rewards performance misses the deeper human story at play. With SILWELL-C, organizations build cultures where hidden strength is acknowledged, not simply tolerated, where resilience becomes part of the fabric, not just the outcome.

Organizational Reflection

• Who among your team is silently proving rather than belonging?

• Which structures reward relentless output but ignore emotional well-being?

• What can you implement to shift from valuing what they do to valuing who they are?

Where story meets science, strength grows through understanding.

• Kampmann, A. (2022). Using Storytelling to Promote Organizational Resilience. Springer. SpringerLink

• Zigarmi, L. (2010). Storytelling at Work: A Leadership Offer for Well-being. University of Pennsylvania. repository.upenn.edu

• “The Effect of Servant Leadership on Work Resilience.” (2022) Frontiers in Psychology. PMC

• “How Servant Leadership Predicts Employee Resilience in Public Organizations.” (2022) Current Psychology. PubMed