Building Resilience: Why You’re Not Broken, You’re Brilliantly Adapted
- 19 hours ago
- 3 min read
By Leah Davidson
I created the Building Resilience podcast because I believe something many people have never been told. You are not broken. You are brilliantly adapted.
After more than 25 years as a Speech-Language Pathologist, Life Coach, and Nervous System Educator, I have seen how often people blame themselves for patterns that were actually their body trying to protect them. I wanted to create a place where the science of the nervous system could feel human and relatable, something you can use in your everyday life.
Part of this work is personal for me too.
I have lived through my own seasons of stress, self-doubt, and pushing past my limits because I thought that was what strength looked like. I was doing what so many people do. I was trying to think my way out of things my body had never been taught to feel safe in. As I learned more about the nervous system, everything in my life and work started to click. I could see the patterns in myself, in my clients, and in the families I had supported for years. We were all trying to function without the basic map of how our brain and body protect us. That realization is what keeps me showing up to the microphone each week. I know that when people finally understand how their nervous system works, they begin to treat themselves with more kindness. They start to breathe a little deeper and trust their own capacity again. And that small shift can change an entire life.
Many listeners come to the show feeling overwhelmed, anxious, or stuck in survival mode. They have spent years working on their mindset or habits without knowing that their nervous system has been leading the way. The biggest mic drop moments are when people finally realize, “Oh… this is not a flaw. This is my biology.” From there, something shifts. Shame softens. Their past makes more sense. They see themselves with more compassion and they start to believe that safety is something they can actually build.
I started the podcast because I kept meeting people who were suffering in silence and assuming they were the problem. Whenever I taught the basics of the nervous system, people would say, “Why did no one teach me this earlier?” That question stayed with me, and it is one of the reasons I am so committed to making this education accessible. We should learn this in school. We should learn it in our homes. We should not have to wait until burnout, chronic symptoms, or a crisis forces us to look for answers.
Over time, the podcast has grown into a larger mission. Listener stories encouraged me to expand my work into creative regulation tools and my mental health stationery line, Resilient Brilliance. I believe that practices like journaling, doodling, and small daily resets can make regulation feel gentler and more approachable. Regulation is simple, but it is not easy. Most of us were never shown how to do it, and we are living in a world that constantly pulls us into dysregulation. People need tools that fit into real life, not another thing to add to a to do list.
My hope is to create a ripple effect. When someone learns how to regulate their own nervous system, they show up differently in every part of their life. They parent differently. They love differently. They work differently. Safety spreads. Hope spreads. Connection spreads. If Building Resilience can give someone a little more clarity, a little more courage, or a moment of relief on a hard day, then the mission is doing exactly what I wanted it to do. I want people to know that healing is possible, that the body is wise, and that they have more capacity than they think.
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