Resilience as A Principle
Our last and final principle is resilience itself. Yes, we have included resilience as a principle to build and cultivate resilience because resilience is a journey, a work in progress. And one may be resilient in certain parts of their life but not as resilient in others. Here, we take it back o the basics and breakdown the concept of resilience.
Definition of Resilience
Mirriam-Webster’s definition of resilience is a good place to start. The dictionary defines resilience as the “ability to recover from or adjust easily to or change.” Here’s how the American Psychological Association (APA) describes it from a psychological point of view that takes into consideration one’s mental, emotional, and behavioral flexibility: “Resilience is the process and outcome of successfully adapting to difficult or challenging life experiences, especially through and adjustment to external and internal demands.” https://www.apa.org/topics/resilience
Here are a few things about resilience that I learned along my journey and keep with me as a reminder when the going gets tough:
It’s normal to be more resilient about certain things in life and less about others;
You can work on the skill set necessary for resilience over time;
Building and maintaining resilience is always a work in progress.
I always try to keep in mind that the more resilient you are, the easier it is to maintain a positive outlook and cope with stress effectively.
What Resilience Is
Resilience is the ability to adapt well to situations involving trauma, tragedy, illness, and the stress of everyday life. The cause of adversity can derive from unhealthy relationships with family and friends, troubling workplace issues, ill health, and financial concerns, to name a few.
Resilience is not a characteristic you can tap into only during times of adversity. It can become part of your way of being in general as it develops over time. But building it requires a combination of internal strengths and external resources, and it’s definitely no a one-size-fits-all.
What Resilience Isn’t
Resilience isn’t something you are born with. Not only that, but when you acquire the skills to become more resilient, it doesn’t mean you won’t experience stress, unhappiness or suffering at certain times in your life.
The Four Core Components of Resilience
You can become more resilient by working on your thoughts and behavior. Think of your ability to be resilient like a muscle which you can build up over time. According to the APA, there are four core components of resilience. You can bounce back and even learn from negative experiences by focusing on connection, wellness, healthy thinking and meaning.
Connection: Make forming healthy relationships with empathetic people a priority.
Wellness: Take care of your body as well as your mind by practicing self-care.
Healthy Thinking: Keep things in perspective, accept that negative occurrences in life are inevitable, and maintain a positive attitude.
Meaning: Figure out your purpose in life and set realistic goals for identifying signs of growth and self-discovery.
Why is Resilience Important?
If you lack resilience, chances are you will ultimately feel overwhelmed or helpless, and may try to cope by resorting to unhealthy strategies, such as avoidance, isolation or even self-medication. Once you learn to be more resilient, you will gain the strength to work through hardship and cope with adversity. In general, those who are more resilient are more likely to achieve overall well-being and satisfaction with life.
Once you start to build your resilience, you will undoubtedly still encounter hardship and setbacks, but you will be better equipped to handle those problems and move forward in a positive way.
Factors Affecting Your Resilience
According to the APA, the factors that contribute to how well people adapt to adversity include:
Ways in which you view and engage with the world
Availability and quality of social resources
Specific coping strategies
Research shows that your supportive “social systems,” i.e. family, friends, community and organizations, can help foster your resilience during periods of crisis or adversity. Other characteristics that help with resilience include a high level of self-esteem, good coping and communication skills and the capacity to manage overwhelming emotions, even if it means seeking assistance from someone else, including a mental health professional.
Types of Resilience
Some professionals who study resilience have broken it down into different types: psychological, emotional, physical and community. Here is a brief description of each:
Psychological Resilience: Also referred to as “mental fortitude,” this is the ability to mentally cope with or adapt to adversity. This type of resilience is often manifested in the ability to remain calm and focused during a crisis.
Emotional Resilience: People with this characteristic can understand what they are feeling and analyze why they are feeling it. They know how to tap into realistic optimism, and can use internal and external resources to persevere. Such people handle change better than others.
Physical resilience: This is one’s physical ability to adapt to changes, stay strong, and recover quickly and efficiently when physically stressed, whether because of an illness, accidentor other physical demands.
Community Resilience: This is the ability of a group of people to recover from adverse situations such as natural disasters or acts of violence.