Resilience: The Muscle We Need to Succeed
Success can be defined in many different ways, but for the purpose of this article, we are not talking about material gains.
Let us consider that living a successful life is not about making a lot of money, buying a big house or a fancy car. (Those things are nice, but they should not be an ultimate measure of our success.) In this article, success is about knowing with full confidence that our worth goes beyond “stuff”, it is about being able to get back up when life’s challenges bring us down, it is about contributing to the betterment of our communities, making a positive impact to society, even if our influence is on a small scale. That is what resilience helps us achieve.
According to positive psychology, resilience is like a muscle we can develop and strengthen. If you have not heard about positive psychology before, you should know that this new branch of psychology is having a significant influence around the world. It developed from the desire to see psychology move away from a disease model, and have a greater focus on helping humans achieve their full potential. Emotional states such as hope, joy and love are been studied in this context, along with qualities such as compassion, gratitude and kindness. Research is discovering how these states and qualities affect our health and wellbeing, and how we can bring this positivity to different settings, such as schools, work environments and our homes.
Resilient people experience the same amount of stress as others, the only difference is that they are not overwhelmed by it. Resilient people make lemonade when life gives them lemons. They find alternate solutions to a problem, and they don’t give up when their attempts at solving the problem fail. They get creative about it! Difficulties help them grow and flourish. We can probably think of many examples of resilient people in our lives or in the public eye, and the great things they accomplished because of it.
To be resilient does not mean to ignore negative feelings or situations. A resilient person is not consumed by negative emotions; they accept them and work through them. A negative situation is viewed as a challenge to overcome. This process helps them grow, so that the next time they encounter similar struggles, they can overcome them more easily than before.
An important aspect of resilience is being confident in one’s values and beliefs. Staying true to ourselves helps us be more resilient when we encounter adversity. It can help us stay mentally and emotionally balanced - by putting our challenges in a greater perspective. For example, if someone believes in the value of contributing to their community and volunteering, giving their time to a worthy cause will help them feel fulfilled and at peace. This will help buffer the harmful effects of stress and allow them to handle life’s hardships with greater ease.
How can we strengthen our resilience?
Here are three things we can do to help cultivate resilience:
Performing exercise on a regular basis. This could be because of the need for consistency when physical activity is a part of our lifestyle, or maybe it is because doing exercise is challenging, and we sometimes have to put in extra effort to complete it.
Develop your social support network. Many studies have demonstrated the importance of social support when it comes to resilience. Having someone to turn to in times of need can make a big difference in how we handle a difficult situation. This is especially important for children and adolescents.
Find meaning in adversity. When we go through hardships, we can take the time to reflect on the situation and find lessons that will help us grow from the experience. Journaling can be a wonderful way to do this. Discovering the benefit to our struggle helps us get back up again with greater mental strength and fortitude.
This list is not exhaustive. Think about the things that help you deal with stress; these can also help you become more resilient. Healthy habits such as getting good sleep, practicing mindfulness, doing breathing exercises, being optimistic, developing gratitude, using humour, nurturing our spirit... these all help us achieve greater mental balance and build the muscle that allows us to successfully ride out the storms we encounter on the great sea of life.
Melissa Rodriguez
References:
1. A Cross-Country Network Analysis of Adolescent Resilience
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32919888/
2. Exploring the bi-directional relationship between sleep and resilience in adolescence
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32791441/
3. Lack of Resilience Is Related to Stress-Related Sleep Reactivity, Hyperarousal, and Emotion Dysregulation in Insomnia Disorder
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5940426/
4. The Process of Developing Resilience in Patients With Burn Injuries
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31464795/
5. Promoting resilience among parents and caregivers of children with cancer
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23646887/
6. The psychobiology of depression and resilience to stress: implications for prevention and treatment
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17716089/
7. Spirituality and resilience among family caregivers of survivors of stroke: A scoping review
https://content.iospress.com/articles/neurorehabilitation/nre192946
8. User Perspectives on a Resilience-Building App (JoyPop): Qualitative Study
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8299348/
9. Yoga breathing, meditation, and longevity
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19735239/
10. Resilience in Health and Illness
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32970640/
11. Resilience and burden in caregivers of older adults: moderating and mediating effects of perceived social support
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5793423/