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What is resilience anyway?

barbara bates • Apr 03, 2020
As we are in need of resilience now more than ever, I thought it would be good to say a bit more about what it is and how we can get more of it. 
 
I love to see where words come from, as this can be very revealing. Inside RESILIENCE there is a Latin root, salire, meaning "to jump, leap". It's amazing how many abstract words come from such embodied, physical meanings. 
 
So, jumping back up, with energy...it makes me think of those vintage Kelly Man toys that no matter how hard you hit them they bounce right back up. 
 
 For us in our daily lives it's about what we do with adversity. Everyone experiences it and no-one can escape it, as we are so painfully seeing now, across the world. But you may notice that some people seem to sail through life no matter what happens, and others are floored if they break a fingernail. 
 
The good news is that acting resiliently is a skill that can be learned. It's not entirely an inborn capacity that you either have or you don't. You can make changes to your thinking, behaviour and lifestyle. Here are some ways to improve your resilience,
  • Look for positive interpretations in a situation
  • Keep things in perspective - how much will 'it' matter in a year? six months? even a week?
  • Accept help - that's a sign of strength, not weakness
  • Control the things you can and don't stress about what you can't
  • Look after your physical health, especially your sleep
  • Help other people - it's good for you too.
You can read more from Michael Neenan, an expert in this field, here. 
 
How resilient do you think you are? And is there one thing you could do today to increase it? 
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