By Loretta LaRoche Wicked Local http://www.wickedlocal.com/halifax
Through 15 years of groundbreaking research, Karen Reivich and Andrew Shatte – two expert psychologists and the country’s pre-eminent resilience-research team – have concluded that resilience is what determines how high people rise above what threatens to wear them down.
I’ve always thought of this quality as a person’s ability to bounce back from life’s hardships by transforming them into challenges. Being resilient allows individuals to survive in this chaotic world with elegance and grace. We all know individuals who’ve gone through enormous difficulties and seem to be able to do so without losing their cool or using their situation as a way to constantly get sympathy.
We can’t control what happens to us, even though many of us think we can, but we can control our reactions and how we think about situations. Some of how we react is passed along by parents and what we’ve inherited biologically. There are individuals who are simply over-reactive by nature. The slightest problem can put them over the edge. There are medications that can help some of that, but the foundation, which consists of how we think, also needs adjusting. When we learn how to use our thoughts to get us through and beyond a problem we are practicing resiliency.
The culture we live in today desperately needs to be resilient. We are constantly being buffeted with messages that remind us that the world is a dangerous place, the economy is suffering, bacteria is lurking everywhere waiting to give us a possible new plague, and our gadgets are always ringing and binging. Being frazzled is a way of life.
Longevity experts are noting that the younger generation may not live as long as their parents. So I am going to offer you a couple of techniques to help you walk the resiliency trail:
- Remember that a thought can be latched onto or let go. It can’t disturb you unless you let it. I realize this takes practice.
- Think of times when you showed courage in the face of adversity. You’ve been the hero or the heroine of your own saga many times. Who is that person who triumphs over difficulty? Create a pseudonym for this strong being. Resonate with your inner warrior.
Perhaps when things get rough, you call upon Betsy Braveheart, Wanda the Wonderful or Thomas the Triumphant. Read books that focus on how courageous people have become victorious. One of my favorites is” Man’s Search for Meaning” by Victor Frankl.
And try to keep in mind that “this too shall pass.” And it does!
Author, humorist, PBS star and Fortune 500 trainer Loretta LaRoche lives in Plymouth. To share your pet peeves, questions or comments, write to The Humor Potential, 50 Court St., Plymouth, MA 02360. Email her, visit her website at www.stressed.com or call 800-998-2324.
Read more: http://www.wickedlocal.com/plymouth/topstories/x1655334767/GET-A-LIFE-The-importance-of-resilience#ixzz2juygWdyT
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