‘Resolve, Resilience & Resources: The Three R’s To Climb Your Personal Mt. Everest’
Renowned thought leader, writer and educator Aparna Piramal Raje on Saturday defined the three R’s necessary to climb the personal peaks that feel as daunting as scaling Mt. Everest. She said that Resolve, Resilience and Resources were imperative to overcome personal fears and limitations we suffer from in our day-to-day lives.
Speaking at the Mumbai chapter of the 4th Edition of India Business Literature Festival (IBLF), Raje recounted her struggles with Bipolar Disorder and how she overcame severe impediments to eventually complete her book ‘Chemical Khichdi’.
Raje said that she had struggled with severe mood swings and depression bouts all her life, which come with bipolar disorder. But after she got diagnosed with the disease in 2013, she felt the need to write a book to describe her struggles and how she had managed her mental health over the years despite crippling disease.
The true challenge for Raje began as she undertook the journey of writing the book in 2014-15. She was hit by many waves of “avalanches” due to her bipolar disorder that derailed her ambition to complete the book.
Bipolar disorder is associated with episodes of mood swings ranging from depressive lows to manic highs. As of 2022, bipolar disorder was considered to be the sixth leading cause of disability by the World Health Organization globally.
“And so, the book only came out last year in 2022. It was a seven-year journey for me to actually be able to write it,” Raje said.
While everyone doesn’t struggle with bipolar disorder, all humans have their own anxieties. Raje described these struggles as a “personal Mt. Everests” that everybody needs to scale. And suggested that they begin the journey to scale this mountain with the first R of the ‘three R’s’ – Resolve.
“Resolve really comes from the courage that you have which allows you to dream. So, I call that really the courage of conviction, knowing that you want to do it. That was so important for me. It really became like – if I don't do anything else with my life, I want to still write Chemical Khichdi,” she said.
She said that once a person had resolved to do something, then they should work on achieving ‘Resilience’ (the second R). For Raje, resilience came from practicing gratitude, learning about detachment and humility.
Raje described the last “R” to be Resources. “We all need a sherpa to help us go up that Mount Everest. And for me, mental health is a team sport. We need allies in our life,” she said.
She called for surrounding self with many people who are understanding and willing to lend a hand in the journey of climbing the personal Everest. “We actually need so many people around us to help us get back, when we are struggling with our emotional and mental wellbeing,” she concluded.
