S I S U The Scandinavian Art of H a r n e s s i n g Yo u r Inner Courage
Emilia Lahti
S I S U The Scandinavian Art of H a r n e s s i n g Yo u r Inner Courage
Emilia Lahti
S I S U The Scandinavian Art of H a r n e s s i n g Yo u r Inner Courage
Emilia Lahti
Copyright Š 2020 Glover Publishing House All rights reserved. Published in the United Kingdom by Glover Publishing House, Bath, England. www.gloverpublishing.co.uk Trade Paperback: ISBN: 9780 1-89870381 Printed in the United Kingdom Design by Hanna Glover First Edition
Sisu Finnish /n./ ‘si.su / si- soo : extraordinary determination and courage especially in the face of adveristy.
Table of Contents Introduction 1 Part 1: The Inward Journey
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10 Steps to for Inner Sisu 7 Finnish Winter Soup with Vegetables
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Journaling Your Way to Sisu
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Pulla Recipe (Finnish Bread) 30 Forest Therapy 55
Part 2: The Outward Journey 60 Walking Together: Sisu in Community
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10 Ways to do Your Part for the Environment
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Loving the Sisu Way 120 The Sisu Home: Decorating Courageously
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Bring Sisu to the Workplace
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Introduction
The concept of sisu has no direct translation, encompassing extreme perseverance and dignity in the face of adversity. But can it be learnt? “Sisu will get you even through granite,” my Finnish mother-in-law used to say. If you look at the enormous grey outcrops of granite scattered since the ice age through the Finnish countryside and forests, you’ll realise that getting through them is not just difficult, it is pretty well impossible. The word originates from ‘sisus’, which literally means ‘guts’ or ‘the intestines’ in Finnish. So, what is this almost mythical quality that appears to be so Finnish? It is a special thing that is reserved for especially challenging moments. When we feel that we came to the end point of our preconceived capacities. You could say that sisu is energy, determination in the face of adversities that are more demanding than usual. My route to a fascination with sisu is through survival and success after a physically and psychologically abusive relationship. We all have these moments when we all need to reach beyond what we think we are capable of. At the end of physical, emotional and psychological endurance. And then we have some kind of force that allows us to continue even when we thought we couldn’t. For Finns, that ‘second wind’ of inner strength is sisu.
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Part 1 The Inward Journey
Etymologically, “sisu” comes from a Finnish root word that implies ‘inner’ or ‘inside’. This is one reason it is sometimes translated as “guts” or “inner strength.” Finland is a bilingual country. Regardless of language, however, everyone living in Finland can lay claim to sisu. In addition, people all over the world are showing interest in the concept, as well. You have sisu, and, it is within the reach of everyone. It lies within you.
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10 Steps for Inner Sisu recipe for self-care
1. Tell yourself that you do matter; and because you matter it is important to spend time and energy on helping yourself feel better. Self-care is finding a way to build yourself up. 2. Be extra nice to yourself. Do things that you enjoy and that help you to relax and unwind. 3. Be patient with yourself. Accept that you will make mistakes, know that you can’t please everyone, and allow time to grieve. Know that things will get better, even though it might take a while. 4. Invest in yourself. Follow your dreams. Study things that interest you. Establish a faith walk for yourself. 5. Recognize when you are in problems over your head. Sometimes this means that you need to admit that you need someone to throw you a safety line; this could include working with a therapist, or going to a support group. 6
6. Say no to situations or people that you know could trigger you in a negative way. Self-care means that you protect yourself so you can build a stronger future self. 7. Think about things that happened in the past, and learn from them so you don’t repeat the same pattern. 8. Self-care means taking time to really evaluate if situations and relationships are healthy and if they should continue. 9. Focus forward. Self-care means moving ahead, not looking back. Making goals for tomorrow or next week are your first step toward the future. 10. Be proud of yourself. Declare victory when things go well! Recognize when you make good choices, or when you succeed at something that you have been working toward.
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Finnish Winter Soup with Vegetables soup for the soul Ingredients
Directions
2 cups water 5 small potatoes, peeled and halved 1 teaspoon salt ⅛ teaspoon ground black pepper 2 tablespoons butter 6 cups green onions, cut into 3 inch lengths 12 baby carrots 1 ½ pounds fresh green beans, cut into 1-inch lengths 2 cups fresh shelled green peas 2 cups half-and-half 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
Step 1 Heat water to boiling in a medium pot; add potatoes. Reduce heat and simmer until potatoes are tender, approximately 15 to 20 minutes.
Serves 4
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Step 2 dd salt, pepper, butter, onions, carrots and green beans; simmer until tender then add peas. Step 3 In a small bowl, stir together halfand-half and flour until smooth; stir into the simmering vegetables. Cook, stirring constantly until the soup is slightly thickened. Serve immediately.
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Part 2 The Outward Journey
Most people let their battles define them. They see failure as an indication of who they are. Mentally tough people let their perseverance define them. They see failure as an event. Failure is something that happens to a person, not who a person is. This attitude is what helped carry the Finnish soldiers through the Winter War.
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Walking Together discovering sisu in community
At some point in life, all of us get that unexpected call on a Tuesday afternoon that distorts our world and makes everything else irrelevant: There’s been an accident. Or, you need surgery. Or, come home now, he’s dying. We get through that time, somehow, drawing on energy reserves we never knew we had and persevering, despite the exhaustion. There’s no word in English for the specific strength it takes to pull through, but there is a word in Finnish: sisu. This concept, for Finns, is a key feature of national identity. A study published this week in International Journal of Wellbeing seeks to define sisu in a manner that can be understood by English speakers. 14
Sisu is a Finnish word that goes back hundreds of years and a quality that Finns hold dear but the phenomenon itself is universal. I surveyed 1,200 people about what sisu means, and analyzed their responses to identify key themes. I found that the word encompasses three major concepts: endurance in times of adversity, and a sense of going beyond preconceived capabilities, taking action against the odds and being courageous in the face of challenges and harnessing previously unexpressed inner energy. Respondents rarely mentioned sisu in relation to small daily nuisances. Rather, it seemed to be reserved for major disruptions, and the most commonly used words referred to significant hardships and stress.Though
sisu helps people get through difficult times, it was not perceived as an unquestionably positive emotion. In this survey, people associated it with three main negative effects: Poor mental health, an inability to empathize with others’ suffering, and not knowing when to step back and quit. “If the person has very unrealistic assumptions of mental or physical reserves, too much sisu can lead to foolhardiness and a backlash. Overtaxing mental reserves may cause mental trauma, foolhardiness in the physical domain can even cause death,” wrote one respondent. Sisu is a fascinating and nuanced concept for many reasons. It conceives of fortitude as partly embodied, rather than purely mental, and it shows our ability to go beyond expectations while also highlighting the deep impact of difficult circumstances. Courage, strength, and perseverance do not quite capture the meaning: The word speaks to human power while acknowledging the limits we must transcend.
“Developing the language of psychology can help us understand our own minds, what is it that keeps our lights burning and hearts hoping during the dark night of the soul? Sisu captures some of the answer, even for those of us who do not have a direct translation.”
10 Ways to Help the Environment the sisu way
1. Be a bag lady. I always keep a million canvas bags in my car and a Baggu in my purse. When I bring in my groceries, I immediately put the bags by my front door so I remember to put them back in the car.
6. Take composting baby steps. Invest in a countertop composter to keep your fruit and veggie scraps out of landfills. If your town offers curbside pickup, all you need to do is dump the scraps into your green bin once your composter is full.
2. Bring a set of utensils and stainless steel straws with you or keep a set at your desk. Plastic cutlery is one of the worst offenders of single-use plastic.
7. Bulk is beautiful. Literally. It’s so much easier on the eyes to peer into a pantry filled with glass jars versus a jumble of plastic and cardboard packaging. You’ll also be able to tell what you need to use up and what needs restocking. Skip the single-use plastic bags and opt for canvas bags (or shoe bags) for stocking up on nuts and flours in the bulk bin.
3. Fall in love with your reusable coffee mug. Yes, they do have a plastic lid but they are way better than tossing a non-recyclable paper cup, lid, and sleeve into the trash every time you get a latte craving. Another option is simply to take your coffee to stay. 4. Ditch the plastic wrap. There are a toxan of options that are not only less toxic but way more aesthetically pleasing than covering half an onion with a sheet of plastic. I usually just cut everything up and put it in a glass container like cloth covers, but a clean dishtowel also works just as well. 5. Use reusable cloths instead of paper towels. I have a secret unbleached roll under the sink for cooking jobs like patting down chicken, but otherwise we use dishtowels, cloth napkins, and rags. 16
8. Choose milk in a returnable glass container. I’ve been buying Strauss organic milk for years. There’s something nostalgic about it. 9. Toothbrushes. We switched to a bamboo brush subscription that comes every three months to stop contributing to the 4.7 billion plastic toothbrushes that end up in a landfill every year. 10. Toilet Paper. Who Gives A Crap sells rolls individually wrapped in design-friendly paper, sans plastic wrap.
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ARE YOU READY TO UNLOCK YOUR INNER COURAGE? On the road to recovery after a painful break up, Finnish Psychologist Emilia Lahti, discovered the key to her healing. She found her inner SISU. SISU is the Finnish word for extraordinary determination and courage, within this book you will be given practical tools as you begin the rewarding journey of unlocking your inner SISU.