FOSTERING FORTITUDE: Behind the Name
I am a big believer in the things we experience coming back full circle. When we start our story, we really do not know how it will end. We may not yet have the knowledge of all the lessons, growth or moments that help us share our story. It is not until we complete the book that we can understand the chapters that led us to the ending moment.
Taking a moment to revisit previous chapters really allowed me to better develop and define the foundation of Fostering Fortitude: Mental Health and Wellness LLC. A chapter that immediately came to mind was about courage. When I was growing up, I watched a movie called We Bought a Zoo. For those that have not seen it, the story is about a single father navigating life after his wife’s passing. He has two young children and embarks on a change in his career. As I am sure you can draw from the title, the father ends up buying a former zoo and chooses to fix it up. I really resonated with the main character’s developments through the course of the film. The emotions that the characters were going though, I could really empathize with it as it came out around a time I was struggling with my mental health and understanding my emotions. In the film the father was a former writer. and throughout the film he (among others) drops bits of wisdom. Matt Damon, the father says, “sometimes all we need is 20 seconds of insane courage of just embarrassing bravery, and I promise you something great will come of it.” Hearing this altered my perspective as I shifted into the next chapters of my life.
In one chapter ending, brings a new beginning for another. Like the transition from high school into college. One leap of courage I took was being a part of an inaugural team at the Division I level. When playing sports, you often engage in a variety of activities that promote your growth off the field as a human being rather than just as an athlete. College lacrosse for me what a major moment in my character development. I dedicated much of my time in season and the off season to laying a foundation for the team and my success as well as creating a culture for the next generation of athletes to come through our program. One fall we did an activity that combined both individual and team growth. The activity was taking both personal and professional values and placing them in two competing brackets. Like the brackets one creates during March Madness. Essentially as you start your “value bracket” with about 16 values and work towards two winners, a personal and professional minded value. For a value to advance you take time to reflect on the meaning. Once you have your two values (personal and professional), you later pit your two values against those of your teammates. Leading to not only values for your team but a greater understanding of the values that drive the members. One of the values that won in my bracket was the value of fortitude. For me Fortitude was a reminder of it is not if you face adversity but rather when and how you choose to move through it. For me fortitude was a value that altered my perspective on how I chose to approach the next chapters of my life.
Fostering Fortitude: Mental Health and Wellness LLC was created from lessons, moments of growth, and experiences I have had in writing the chapters of my life. Fostering Fortitude is a nod to setting ourselves up for success, to create trust, find our voices, create better and healthier coping for the mental strength to endure the adversity we face with insane courage and embarrassing bravery.
To the people who have challenged, supported, inspired, and empowered me- thank you for the reasons, seasons, and being part of a lifetime of growth to come not only for myself but in the legacy, I hope to create with Fostering Fortitude.