“Sisu “, The Finnish Recipe For Difficult Times

For the Finnish people, “sisu” has a mystical, almost magical meaning. More than a word, it is an injection of energy and courage that is imbued in its own cultural legacy. “Sisu” is willpower, it is determination, perseverance and above all it is resilience. It is almost like the backbone of a people that has in this word the best remedy for adversity.

Something that is always invigorating and enriching is immersing ourselves in cultures different from ours to learn, to reflect on different terms that ultimately share common roots that are familiar to all of us. Sisu,  (pronounced see’-soo) gives shape to that resilient attitude that sounds so familiar to us, that inspires us so much and that we try to apply in our day-to-day lives.

The origin of this word is for the Finns something very special. So much so, that today we can find in this country Sisu brand cars  , armored vehicles, the MS Sisu icebreaker, and even a brand of intensely flavored coughs to clear up a cough. It should also be noted that in Antarctica there is a mountain with the same name after Veikka Gustafsson, a Finnish mountaineer, crowned it in the 90s.

Sisu is a backpack to carry in your own heart to get hold of those guts that we so often need to face daily difficulties. It is therefore not a specific strategy, it is not a patch or a generic medicine for a desperate moment. The Finns take this attitude as a philosophy of life, as a psychic tendon to exercise on a daily basis.

Sisu, an untranslatable word with a very specific past

On November 30, 1939, the Soviet Union declared war on Finland, just three months after World War II began. This conflict is one of the most admired and studied in history books: it lasted barely 105 days and was a real military disaster for the Russians.

The so-called “Winter War” was, at first glance, a real losing battle for the Finns, they had very few soldiers (most of them did not even have uniforms) compared to the 2.5 million soldiers they had. the red army.

The battalion of men was undoubtedly added by the Russian fighting machine, with its powerful tanks and sophisticated aircraft. Everything seemed to presage that Finland would soon be a land burned and conquered, but what the Soviets did not have was the fierce Finnish character. It was then that a word emerged among the Finnish soldiers that served as a motivational key and in turn, as an invocation of their warrior spirit. The magic word was “sisu”.

That term served them to fuel courage and non-surrender. To evade fear, fuel determination, hide insecurity and draw strength when, apparently, all is lost. The history books comment that if the Soviets fell it was because of the harsh winter and the thick forests where they were unable to orient themselves.

Perhaps that was so, but analysts know that something very special happened in that war: the soldiers and the population strategically allied themselves, created small attack groups that sowed a terrible panic among the Russian ranks. It was then that what has been called “the Finnish winter spirit” or “Sisu” emerged .

Resilience

When the Finnish soldiers defeated the Russian soldiers, they did not take pride in victory alone, for having defeated such a fierce, powerful enemy. Those 105 days served them to acquire a series of learnings that were imprinted in the word “sisu”, the one that in turn, they transmitted to the following generations.

That war was a real lesson in resilience: because it is not enough to have guts to emerge triumphant from a critical situation, it is not enough either to survive it, what counts above all is to come out of it strengthened and to be the depositary of knowledge exceptional vitals.

Setting ideals and goals

Having a life project, defining ourselves by ideals, having goals on the horizon and firm illusions in the heart, undoubtedly make up the person with a “sisu” spirit. Hence, every time those complicated moments that like to put us to the test occur, nothing will be as successful as adjusting our inner compass to orient ourselves towards that north where our strengths, values ​​and brave identities are found.

To conclude, as we have been able to intuit, “sisu” is almost a proclamation to life, it is the appreciation of those psychological dimensions that make us people much more apt to face any challenge, and stronger and more dignified beings who understand something so basic like that.