Nourishing Your Roots: Understanding and Developing Resilience
- 1 day ago
- 4 min read
Have you ever faced an adverse experience, whether it be a breakup, being let go from a job or a passing of a loved one? At some point in our lives, we encounter events that challenge us mentally, physically and socially. Some people may make it out lucky with a relatively unchallenging life, but that is few and far between. We go through ups and downs in life, and the way we deal with the downs builds our character. How we move forward is due in part to resilience.
What is Resilience?
To put it simply, resilience is the process of adapting to difficult or challenging life experiences [1]. There are different forms of resilience [2]:
• Mental resilience: The ability to cope with change and uncertainty.
• Physical resilience: Your body’s ability to cope with age related challenges.
• Social Resilience: The ability to work with a group of people and foster a community.
Resilience is not about stress or life’s challenges never affecting you. It’s about understanding that we will all go through adversities, but it’s about how you overcome them.
Are you born with resilience?
There is a common misconception that people are either born with higher or lower resilience. Sometimes people do tend to have default reactions to challenges, some people entirely avoid them, and others face them head on. However, the world around us plays a large role in either positively or negatively affecting the development of resilience [3]:
• Home environment: A person in a more nurturing and supportive environment has a better chance of developing higher resilience compared to someone from a stressful home environment.
• Environment around you: The investment in schools, libraries, third spaces (spaces other than home and work), can play a part in what opportunities are allotted to you. Government policies in terms of anti-discrimination laws, inclusion and education system can help foster resilience or lessen it.
• Social support and life: How supportive your friends and family are and how connected you are to your community can play a part. What you see from others can impact how you react to different events. Your cultural identity can also play a role in nurturing your resilience.
People can be born with higher or lower resilience; however that’s not the end. The environment around us can play a role in the development of resilience, either building it up or breaking it down. But just because at a young age certain factors made you have lower resilience, it doesn’t mean it cannot be learned later in life.
Benefits
So why does resilience matter? Finding the right strategies and coping skills can help future problems that pop up in life become much easier to deal with. Instead of letting them shut you down, you learn to move forward and preserve through them. Here are more benefits to resiliency:
• Overall mental and physical well-being: Building your resilience can lower stress levels, therefore helping better your physical and mental health. Furthermore, adapting to adverse situations can help people better manage stress, anxiety and depression [4].
• Research shows high levels of resilience are associated with people engaging in healthy activities like adhering to better diets, recommended physical activity and recommended sleeping hours [5]
• Building resilience can also improve your problem-solving skills, adaptability, career success and overall personal growth. The ability to overcome obstacles comes from learn to adapt and solve problems, while in turn helping your overall career and personal growth [4].
• Higher resilience provides greater interpersonal skills, resulting in healthier and supportive relationships in life [4].
Tips to help with becoming resilient
Like previously stated, there are many factors in developing resiliency. However, it does not mean you cannot develop that resiliency later in life. Resiliency can become a taught skill. Here are some strategies to use:
• Practice self-compassion: Self compassion is the act of being kind to yourself through adversities. Change the way you think about issues you’re facing in life, and understand you are not alone, as someone is most likely walking the same path as you. Provide yourself grace even in the most trying times [2].
• Self-care: Find something that brings you peace and lets you wind down from stressful events. These can be things like taking a bath, reading a book, drawing, taking a walk, exercising [6].
• Growth mindset: When you come across challenges in life, don’t view them as immovable objects, instead see them as opportunities to grow and learn[6].
• Social support: Find new people or existing people to talk to. Go to a community event or go out with a friend Expanding your circle can help you find someone that can be there for you in stressful times. You can find someone who can be a shoulder to cry on and also be someone else’s shoulder.
• Physical activity: Try to move your body! This can help you take your mind off things and can help you find a community. Go to the gym, join an exercise group or just go outside [6]!
• Seek out help: You shouldn’t have to burden yourself with constant stress and challenges. Finding support with friends and family can be a lot of help, but reaching out to a professional can help you foster skills necessary for coping.
Ending thoughts
Overall, resilience is not about life never affecting you. It’s normal for life to drop you down a peg and affect you negatively. Resilience is about finding and using coping strategies to be able to move forward from those life challenges. It’s up to you to figure out what works best for you in stressful and challenging times!
[1] Resilience
[2] What Is Resilience, And Why Does It Matter? | The Well by Northwell
[3] What Actually Makes You Resilient?
[4] Why is it Important to Have Resilience?
[5] Resilience and CVD-protective Health Behaviors in Older Women: Examining Racial and Ethnic Differences in a Cross-Sectional Analysis of the Women’s Health Initiative - PMC
[7] The Health Benefits of Resilience—And How to Cultivate More of It | Psychology Today
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