Every life is filled with some difficulty, disappointment, and surprises. None of us can escape this truth. However, our ability to cope, adapt, and adjust becomes paramount to our survival and well being as we live and continue to encounter life’s many surprises. Fortunately, there are a wealth of tools available to us to help us along the way. These tools help us develop resilience and ingenuity as we navigate life’s ups and downs. There are several skills that we can build and develop to not only deal with life but to find fulfillment and enjoyment in it as well.
A Problem is an Opportunity for Growth
One of the first things we can do to build resilience is to start looking at problems as opportunities for growth and positive change. If we can change the way we see a problem, we can change the way we feel about it.
In essence, the first step in this process is changing how we look at a challenge and understanding that there are many ways to view a problem that can be transformative instead of limiting.
Give Yourself Some Credit
It’s easy to develop self-defeating and negative perceptions when it comes to our challenges. One of the best actions and thoughts to adapt is a more caring and gentle way of looking at ourselves. We all have areas that require self-reflection and growth. However, we also have areas that we perform quite well. Those areas need to be looked at as well.
In other words, give yourself some credit for the things you do well. It’s these little pep talks that will help you navigate life’s stormy waters. You’ve got to be your pep squad some times. This should be something that’s built into the way you handle yourself going forward.
Develop a Realistic Perspective
Developing resilience requires objectivity. You have to be able to look at a situation realistically. This means that you can’t let emotion, negativity, or unrealistic optimism cloud your judgment. You must learn to look at things soberly, however, with hope as well. Most situations have solutions or at least answers that will at least improve them.
Learn to look for the best possible silver lining in a situation and pursue it with your eyes open. Every situation has some positive elements or elements in it. Look for those positive elements in any given situation and allow them to be a beacon of light as well as a ladder for the negatives in a situation. This can only be done if you can see a situation realistically and without bias.
A healthy perspective will give you the ability to adequately, and most importantly, accurately address a situation. Resilience is developed over time. As we hone our ability to adapt and adjust to life’s situations positively, we grow our resilience meter.
To survive, and most importantly, thrive in life, we must possess resilience as an active skill that we use continuously. Resilience can be built, honed, and developed over time through attitude, objectivity, and self-awareness. When we practice these skills on an ongoing basis we develop practical ways of managing our life and transforming negative patterns and cycles. Resilience also helps us to deal with unexpected situations healthily and positively.