And so it starts with Ross Edgley with “The Art of Resilience – Strategies for an unbreakable mind and body” – my first book review on Human A/B.
Why this book?
Why did I choose “The Art of Resilience “? And why am I particularly interested in resilience?
Resilience is the ability to have or get answers to react to our changing environment and to adapt to it without falling apart (physically and mentally). Imho an ability nowadays society loses more and more. So it’s about preparing in good ways for whatever is next to be still good or even becoming a better version of yourself. Therefore I like to understand the ingredients of how this is best possible.
The Art of Resilience seems a promising book with a clear title, a strong relation to a main physical event, and the only book on this topic with many good reviews on Amazon.
So how did it turn out?
It’s a good book and definitely an easy read! Nothing difficult to follow. You jump straight into Ross’ adventure and get to understand why he needs superlatives through physical challenges. In “The Art of Resilience, “he prepares and takes action: To swim around Great Britain, straight, without setting foot on land, only allowed to sleep on a boat, most likely in frequencies of all six hours. So we talk about a stage swim over 157 days which he describes as lively, mostly milestones or special events like a whale “guiding “him for some hours. But it’s mostly a description of his external factors and how he tries to act upon them. It’s fun to read, even though he fills passages with many byproducts. He really nails down the scientific sport to develop physical resilience and the kind of attitude and training you need. How to create stamina, that a stoic philosophy is more than beneficial, spirituality, to use the body as a servant, not as a master, to be patient, making wise decisions, acceptance of what to control and whatnot, fear, your higher purpose, suffering, nutrition and so much more. The sports science part is excellent condensed and easy to understand. And in the end, it’s not only the physical “strength, “it’s the synergy with the mind. Awesome what the human body and mind can do. The last part of the book turns out the best, in my opinion. Not that it’s close to the end with the grand finale, he became so much more personal and one level deeper, even more authentic. I missed a little during the book, like reading his struggles on multiple stages to really understand him.
Conclusion
It’s pretty easy to see that there is first the sports adventure out of where he chose the topic of resilience; it’s not the other way around. And that is why it doesn’t give a holistic answer to resilience in all facets. Fantastic and respectable sports adventure book, but to really dive deeper into the resilience topic, it was “only” but an outstanding swim.
Worth your time? Yes, but only when you are into sports and on storries which incluce some valuable insights. If you want to dive deeper into “resilience”, it’s definitaly only a warm up.
Worth your time? Yes, but only when you are into sports and on storries which incluce some valuable insights. If you want to dive deeper into “resilience”, it’s definitaly only a warm up.