The Strength From Bending Through Life’s Storms

Dear Lovely Human,

As an island girl, I’ve seen coconut trees bend so low in heavy winds I thought they’d snap. Yet when the air finally stilled, they stood tall again — roots anchored, stronger than before.

We often think strength means standing rigid. But the truth is, survival belongs to what can sway, adapt, and move with the wind.

The human spirit works the same way. Every trial, every crack, every season of strain doesn’t just test us, it reshapes us. It sharpens our focus on what matters, makes us braver about where to stand, and leaves us more alive than before.

This is resilience: not defiance, not perfection, but the quiet confidence that when we bend, we don’t break. We rise again — steadier, rooted, and ready for whatever comes next.

How can I stay ahead in Learning and Development?

• The rise of WORKSLOP at the office?

•The boldest chapter of your life doesn’t come first, it comes next. This workshop gives you the tools, the community, and a roadmap to turn that “next” into something real for mid-life professionals.

• The 7 silent levers that make or break your strategy. Most leaders miss the very first one, and it’s the difference between momentum and mediocrity.

• Most organizational transformations fail. Here’s why…

• Finally someone who does not want to be a self-help guru!

 How do I broaden my Global Worldview? Vietnam (Conclusion)

Samantha almost missed it.

Her flight was in five hours, her suitcase zipped, and she’d promised not to spend another đồng. But Hanoi had its way — a side street pulled her in one last time, lanterns swaying like punctuation marks to a sentence she wasn’t ready to end.

At a stall, a woman carved patterns into a ceramic bowl — fingertip and memory, not machine. She didn’t look up. Just three words: “Not for tourists. Export.” Then a quiet smile, and suddenly it wasn’t a transaction, it was an introduction.

And that’s when Samantha saw it: Vietnam’s quiet capitals weren’t just in its crafts, they were in its relationships.

• Social Capital in the trust that grew from conversations over tea, where promises mattered more than contracts.

• Network Capital in the way one friend’s cousin opened doors to a workshop in Huế, then another to a designer in Saigon.

• Knowledge/Domain Capital in the lived expertise of artisans who blended centuries-old skills with modern twists — wisdom generously shared, not hoarded.

• Purpose Capital in the pride every maker carried, reminding her that work here was never just income, but identity.

• Community Capital in the circles she was pulled into — dinners, street cafés, late-night karaoke — where she wasn’t an outsider anymore, but part of something bigger.

By the time she left, Samantha realized she wasn’t carrying souvenirs in her bag — she was carrying relationships that would outlast the flight home. Vietnam doesn’t scream for attention. It builds quiet capital, one bond at a time.

Strength isn’t standing rigid — it’s bending without breaking.

Resilience is the quiet confidence that storms can bend you, but never snap you.

The strongest roots are grown in the fiercest winds.

And finally…..

🎯 What can I do to Impact, Live Sustainably and Make the World a Better Place?

• Robert Redford’s left us so many things including this sustainable tourism model.
 
• How AI is shaping agriculture…

• Can our pets live longer with this?

• Denmark leads the way with plant based food!

Your fans,
— Sal & the Gleac team

P.S. Meet some of the lovely humans in our Gleac community making waves around the world!