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I keep seeing so many posts on social media about Rajendra Dawadi.
He is the school director of Tribhuvan Trishuli Secondary School in Nuwakot, Nepal, who ordered a complete evacuation for all students just 10 minutes before a flood wiped out the entire campus.
People everywhere are praising his heroism, admiring how quickly he saw the threat and saved those children. Ever since reading about him, I can’t stop reflecting on the fact that the school sat on a small hill, but Dawadi still chose to act immediately and lead the children up to higher ground.
The flooding disaster in Nepal was devastating. While many couldn’t have escaped regardless of their best efforts to survive, I wonder how many lost their lives simply because they assumed nothing bad would happen. Dawadi could have easily convinced himself that the school was safe on its hill, yet he saw the warning signs and took the necessary steps to evacuate.
At the same time, can we truly blame those who assumed this was just another regular flood in Nepal and thought everything would turn out fine? When life feels peaceful, our minds effortlessly slide into the false belief that everything is okay and will remain that way.
In psychology, this mental tendency is known as the “normalcy bias”—the way our brain minimizes incoming threats, disasters, or warnings. I remember when we were traveling in Turkey, and my husband kept his phone in his pocket only to have it stolen on the tram, even after locals had warned us about pickpockets—or when a fire completely burned our business to the ground, an event we never anticipated just because we believed it couldn’t happen to us.
The truth is that our comfort often hides incoming danger. We naturally assume that tomorrow will be the same as today. This same pattern explains why we miss warning signs in our personal lives—like refusing to acknowledge that a romantic relationship is falling apart and no longer working. It’s how we end up overlooking abusive relationships, draining friendships, toxic workplaces, financial troubles, and common illnesses.
Our hesitation to leave or make a change stems from a belief that things will eventually settle back to normal, regardless of how painful or dangerous the present situation appears. We might even convince ourselves that tragic events only happen to other people.
While this mental trick might offer a brief sense of safety, it leaves us utterly unprepared for reality. It keeps us stuck in a cycle of denial where we ignore obvious red flags and repeatedly tell ourselves that it’s nothing serious—or that life will return to how it used to be.
By pretending everything is fine when it clearly isn’t, we leave ourselves completely vulnerable and place our trust in a reality that’s neither guaranteed nor real. So, what’s the alternative? I found my answer in Buddhism.
Building resilience doesn’t ask us to turn pessimistic or live in constant anxiety; it simply requires a shift in how we view the world.
This is where the Buddhist concept of impermanence (Anicca) steps in, offering a beautiful foundation for true strength.
Impermanence teaches us a fundamental truth that’s capable of reshaping our mindset. It tells us that everything eventually changes, and no state of being remains static forever—not even in nature. When we hold on tightly to the idea that life must always remain pleasant, sudden and unexpected shifts feel like overwhelming catastrophes. They break our spirit and erode our resilience.
However, when we genuinely accept the universal law of impermanence, two essential truths become clear:
>> One: Good experiences are temporary.
>> Two: Difficult experiences are inevitable.
Understanding this allows us to fully appreciate peaceful times without clinging to them or trying to force them to last. Simultaneously, accepting hardship as a natural part of existence softens the emotional shock whenever problems inevitably surface.
When impermanence becomes an accepted part of how we see the world, we learn to respond thoughtfully rather than panic. That’s what real resilience looks like. It means recognizing potential risks instead of ignoring them. It means honoring current reality and enjoying today’s calm while actively building the mental strength needed to handle whatever tomorrow brings.
Through Buddhist philosophy, we can break free from the fear of change. By stepping directly into reality and embracing the fact that life can shift in an instant, we ground ourselves and cultivate an unwavering inner strength that no crisis can break.
author: Elyane Youssef
Image: Ramin Talebi/Pexels
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