The Art of Resilience: Strategies for an Unbreakable Mind and Body

physiological (need for food, water, oxygen, sleep, for example); safety (security in the form of law, order and freedom from fear); belongingness and love (friendship, intimacy, trust and acceptance, receiving and giving affection); esteem (for dignity, achievement, status); and self-actualisation (realising personal potential, self-fulfilment).

we humans were never meant to eat through rules, regulations and checklists – they’re simply too restrictive and we’re biologically wired to seek variety.

He also believed that unpleasant physical sensations, such as pain, were natural and inevitable in life, but that our conscious mind should not ‘add to the sensation the opinion that it is either good or bad’

When you are stressed by an external force, it’s not the force itself that troubles you, but only your judgement of it. Once you understand this, you can learn to Accept the Uncontrollables and practise the Art of Acquiescence to achieve your goal.

‘An athlete cannot run with money in his pockets. He must run with hope in his heart and dreams in his head.’

I spent the next hour getting reacquainted with warmth and hygiene, two long-lost friends I hadn’t seen in over five months at sea.

My personal record was 22 stings straight to the face in a single night.

some days you might need your dancing shoes and other days you might have to wear your boxing gloves.

As a storm raged across the Irish Sea, we’d sought refuge in the small Welsh harbour of Solva, renowned for its quaint cafes, craft shops and galleries.