The 5 C’s of Resourcefulness

Something in the human brain snaps to attention in the presence of counting. I discovered this at one of my early public talks. Someone asked a question and I said, “There are three things to know about that.” Everyone put a “1.”  in their notebooks in unison and looked up like baby birds waiting to be fed. Whoa! Powerful. Then I saw this counting everywhere, noting each time that upon seeing the number I wanted to know more. The 9-step program. The 10 commandments.  The 8-fold path.

So I know a header about the “5 C’s” may pique your interest. I didn’t do it for effect. It’s just how these qualities of resourceful people came to me. They are:

• courageous – this is the quality of will that keeps you moving in the face of your own fear
• cheerful – this is the quality of heart that lets you anticipate “there is a way” when evidence says there isn’t
• creative – this is the quality of mind that invents new solutions – that is curious and enjoys paradox
• competent – the is the quality of body that learns rhythms of how to do things and does them well, both maintaining what is and innovating what could be.
• connected – this is the quality of us as relational beings who know that no solutions reside in one person, they all come from and serve the group.

The ART of resourcefulness engages all aspects of self in a collaborative treasure hunt, the treasure being meeting our needs elegantly and sufficiently without degrading the systems which gave us life and on which our lives depend.

C, that wasn’t so bad.