Resilience isn’t about never falling – it’s about how you get back up. In martial arts, we learn to fall safely, over and over again. It’s called ukemi, and at first it feels strange: why practise falling? But the more you do it, the less it scares you.

That’s the lesson: falling isn’t failure. It’s part of learning. And when you take away the fear of falling, you give yourself permission to try more, risk more, and grow faster.

In life, resilience is the ability to keep going when things don’t go to plan. A project at work hits a snag, a personal goal takes longer than you hoped, an opportunity slips away. These moments can knock us down – but they don’t have to keep us there.

Here in Needham, I’ve seen great examples of resilience in our community just last year. I’m sure we all remember the horrible floods and the damage done. I like to think we also all remember the help people gave each other, and subsequent strengthening of relationships between the neighbours and businesses affected.Maybe that’s the way to live: accept the falls, learn from them, and keep moving forward.