Like a Marine, a dad is the first vanguard in their child’s life.

Dads are a child’s first superhero.

This is why the world needs men who refuse — come hell or high water —  to go out on the devil’s terms.

Put simply, the world needs resilient dads.

Dads who bounce back from life’s roundhouse kicks, saying with the best of them: “Semper Fi.”

Fathers who choose to remain always faithful.

Perseverance

Resilience is the bedrock of staying power.

It’s the ‘unwavering grit to continue on when others quit.’

So reads the United States’ Marine manual on determination and decision-making.

The two main ingredients of resilience are conviction and calculation.

Marines, for instance, have the willingness ‘to fight through anything — with every resource available. With honour, with each other, and without fail.’

Hence their phrase: “Improvise, adapt, and overcome!”

Resilience is therefore having the determination to face defeat with a plan, walk in victory, and not cower to victimisation.

It’s about being able to absorb a punch or two.

Being resilient is both an acquired ‘process and an outcome,’ states The American Psychological Association.

It is ‘the process of adapting well in the face of adversity, trauma, tragedy, threats, or significant sources of stress.’

Although increasing resilience ‘takes time, anyone can learn strategies to weather storms, learn from, and overcome them,’ they added.

Overcoming

Australian mental health advocate Pat Di Domenico is no stranger to the necessity of resilience.

Fighting the system to see his son, and drowning in its fog of war, Domenico said, he spiralled towards suicide.

Hit with thoughts that his son might be better off without him, Domenico recalled how seeing another father and son enjoying time together shook him.

It was after this moment that he resolved to take ‘back power and stop being so reactive to everything the courts were throwing at him.’

“I stopped letting the chaos I had to deal with bleed over into my daily life, and I started focusing on what mattered most to me: my relationship with my son.”

“As I fought for every bloody inch toward my goal of being allowed to see my son again, I realised that I was becoming someone completely different,” he said.

“I’d decided to step back from the edge of the rooftop, step back from my own mental edge, and make a change.”

The Resilient Dad podcast host now balances his time between being the dad his family needs him to be, and helping others rise, despite any falls.

Resilience is taught.

As much as the world needs resilient fathers, it needs loving mothers and resilient kids.

Fatherlessness

One of Domenico’s key points is the regressive impact fatherlessness had on his own level of resilience.

To add, science-backed data continues to show that the only way to achieve this is within the covenant union between a man and a woman.

Resilience is woven into the fabric of a child’s character by mum, dad, and the nurturing embrace of the broader family unit — where and when they are available.

Just as our words have the power to either build up or tear down, resilience is taught through our actions.

Focus on the Family explains,

‘When teaching kids how to bounce back after being let down, it’s important not to be over-protective.’

Instead of solving problems for kids, parents should ‘encourage their children to participate in finding solutions to daily dilemmas.’

‘While parents are always there to consult, our first step should be to help them come up with a solution on their own.’

‘Solving small problems today helps children grow to be resilient problem-solvers tomorrow,’ they concluded.

I’m convinced that greater resilience branches out from the roots of spiritual and emotional maturity.

It’s only at the juncture between faith, family, and freedom, that resilience finds traction with the Marine motto.

At the end of the day, Semper Fi is the battle cry.

Don’t go out on the devil’s terms!

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Photo by Elina Fairytale.