Resilience is the psychological backbone of the human mind. It serves as a source of strength for people to rely on after enduring trauma, misfortune or disaster. Resilience helps individuals adjust to negative life situations with greater ease, allowing them to remain calm, even when all odds are against them. Without the shield of resilience, a person can become overwhelmed; the world can feel like an unpredictable, dark realm. An individual can also fall victim to developing pessimistic beliefs and a slow recovery rate. Building resilience is essential for protecting people against experiencing high stress and anxiety levels, which can hurt their mental health state in the long run (and now during quarantine, this is the most important time to do so).
Here are five ways to improve your resilience in the face of adversity:
Engage in Positive Self-Talk
Although the idea of talking to yourself might seem like a ridiculous task to practice frequently, it can do more good than harm. Repeatedly saying positive words inside your head can retrain your brain to think more optimistically. A great example of this is vocalizing mantras every morning in front of your mirror. Mantras such as: I will be strong and find a solution or I am good enough to get through this can help you start your day off with the momentum and confidence to tackle anything big or small.
Harness the Power of a Growth Mindset
When a tragic event simmers down, it can be difficult to know what to do with yourself in the aftermath. However, if you focus on seeing your challenge as a learning opportunity, you will view life with limitless curiosity. Through adopting a growth mindset, you can plan out new goals/activities to be able to look forward to flourishing in the future, instead of being stuck in a grim — self-sabotaging — looping habit of reminiscing about your past struggles and living stagnant.
Strengthen Support Systems
The quality of your relationships will definitely affect your social wellness status. Try spending time more often connecting with friends and family to create deeper bonds. Developing healthy, fulfilling support systems can increase your sense of belonging and feelings of happiness. With face to face interaction, you’ll have the chance to express grief, process your emotions, as well as destress your brain (do this after social distancing is over, of course).
Accept Change
Change is inevitable. No matter if you want changes to happen to you or not, you’ll always experience them, nevertheless. This is why it’s important to learn how to embrace change by reminding yourself that constant uncertainty in life is okay. To be more prepared for detrimental future situations though, you can reframe how you respond to them beforehand. Altering your initial reaction to distress from a negative to a positive one, can prevent you from immediately resorting to panic and adapt to change better if a catastrophic event ever comes again.
Find Purpose
Searching for a purpose is like looking for a needle in a haystack. The process can be lengthy and arduous. Yet, discovering your reason to live a meaningful life can help you unlock a more satisfying perspective. You can try to start your journey by putting your energy into being in service to others, while doing something you love. As a result, you’ll instantly make a difference in someone else’s life and feel more intrinsically motivated to get involved in your community. Therefore, finding your purpose can boost your willpower to carry on, mitigating traumatic wounds.
The Teller Magazine 