Have you ever heard of the tardigrade? 

You might also have heard it called a moss bug or water bear.

The tardigrade is a microscopic, translucent creature that lives damn near everywhere: from the tops of the Himalayas to the grody moss you keep meaning to scrub off the pavers in your backyard. 

Eye of Science/Science Source

Like the dust mites that were en vogue when I was a kid, tardigrades are today’s bug du jour.

They’re beloved by teachers and kids because you can find them anywhere and you can see them easily under the microscope. 

Under the lens, tardigrades look like the Michelin man would if he had claws.

Despite their fame, a tardigrade is just a moss bug that lives for a year under normal conditions. 

It’s what they do in abnormal conditions that’s remarkable. 

See, when subjected to harsh environmental conditions, a tardigrade jettisons almost all the water in its body and slows its metabolism to .01 percent of normal.

When it does this, the tardigrade takes on a new identity. It’s new name is the “tun.”

And tuns, it turns out, are extraordinarily badass. 

From the New York Times (bullets mine):

• Tuns have been reconstituted after more than a century and brought back to life as tardigrades, looking not a day older.
• Tuns can be subjected to atmospheric pressure 600 times that of the surface of Earth, and they will bounce right back. 
• They can be chilled to more than 300 degrees Fahrenheit below zero for more than a year, no problem. 
• The European Space Agency once sent tuns into space and:

Two-thirds survived simultaneous exposure to solar radiation and the vacuum of space. Without water, “the damaging effects of freezing cannot happen,” Dr. Siddall explained. “It protects against heat because the water inside cannot turn into a gas that expands. Even radiation needs water to do damage,” he said. “When cosmic radiation hits water in a cell, it produces a highly reactive form of oxygen that damages cell DNA. The tun doesn’t have this problem.”

As far as I’m concerned, the tardigrade should be everybody’s spirit animal. It exemplifies resilience and thriving after extreme trauma and stress of the nature that would do anybody else in.

Here’s the part I find particularly fascinating: The tardigrade’s whole identity changes when it sheds the water that would make it vulnerable to damage or destruction in extreme conditions.

The tardigrade doesn’t fight the conditions that it can’t control.

It doesn’t text its tardigrade complaint buddies and spiral into feeling even worse.

It doesn’t get on Facebook and post to anyone who’ll listen about the unwanted conditions.

Catch this principle: The tardigrade goes with the flow of life, shedding what no longer serves it along the way, evolving and transforming, morphing from tardigrade to tun, then back to tardigrade, depending on what’s going on in the world around it.

The tardigrade doesn’t just Google for solutions.

Under circumstances that would obliterate any other being in the Universe, the tardigrade sheds what it no longer needs, and uses its innate strengths to evolve into a new being that is the solution.

Think about this:

There are only two kinds of humans: those who’ve been through trauma, or those who will someday.

Think about a time when you went through an adversity and came out changed for the better, the more conscious, the more alive, the more resilient.

Think about your post-traumatic breakthrough, or write about it if the spirit moves.

How did your identity change in the process? Who were you before? Who did you become? 

Who are you now?

Heads up: If you want to refill your clarity, motivation and inspiration tank for whatever you want to be, do or have in 2019, this one’s for you.

I’m presenting a live encore of my 2019 Goal-Setting workshop next Tuesday, March 5th at 11am Pacific/2 pm Eastern (See your timezone here). 

It’s free, and I’d love for you to join me. 

Last time I taught it, over 800 people joined me live and it was . 

Right afterward, Tanya emailed me in all caps for emphasis : 

“THAT WEBINAR WAS EVERYTHING.”

Kirsten also attended, and said: “Thank you Tara-Nicholle. You always deliver action steps. SO very grateful. recommended a few people to this program today, saw a few names, and I hope everyone got something golden. I know I did. Thank you.”

>> Click here to join me for a free workshop where I’ll share my 3 Secrets to setting intentions that work.

Head up + heart out,

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