Learning the art of building resilience is crucial if you want to effectively deal with life’s challenges. Here’s how to enhance your resilience.
What Is Resilience?
In life, you’ll face many ups and downs. Unfortunately, some of the challenges you’ll face will have a longer-lasting impact, such as the loss of a loved one or a life-altering accident.
When this happens, it’s normal to be overwhelmed with emotions and feelings of uncertainty. However, over time, you’ll adapt and get so much better at dealing with life’s challenges. This inner power is known as resilience.
Resilience refers to one’s ability to deal with and bounce back from life’s challenges. It makes the difference between losing your cool and handling pressure effectively. Besides, being resilient allows you to have a positive view of life.
For some people, resilience grows naturally, but it’s something you can learn. Whether you’re weathering the storms of life or you want to be prepared for the next one, these tips on how to build resilience should come in handy.
1. Join a Support Group
Sometimes, it helps to be around people going through the same thing you are or have already overcome it. Those who are weathering the storm give you comfort in knowing that you’re not alone.
On the other hand, those who’ve forged on to the other side give you hope of better days. You can get support from:
- Faith-based communities
- Civic groups
- Local organizations
- Online support groups
- Text therapy forums
Research and identify groups in your area that offer the support you need, thereby allowing you to get in touch with someone every time you’re feeling blue and want to share.
2. Find a Sense of Purpose
When you’ve gone through a traumatic event such as the death of a loved one, moving forward can seem impossible.
How do you live your life knowing you’re missing an important part of it? Is life even worth living at this point? You may have these and many more questions going through your mind. You’re not alone.
However, staying in the grief and emotional distress isn’t a good idea either. Finding a sense of purpose not only helps you move forward but makes dealing with the emotions that come easier.
You can volunteer at the community center, give to a cause, cultivate your spirituality, or engage in something you find meaningful.
3. Build a Reliable Social Network
You cannot overestimate the importance of a support system. When life gets challenging, you need people you can confide in and whose shoulders you can lean on. A conversation with a friend can ease the load and make you view your problems in a different light.
Besides, you’re in a better position to find solutions when you have someone objective helping you figure things out.
4. Embrace Change
When you’re faced with a crisis, like most people, your first response is probably fear. You’re afraid of what life will be like when what you’ve come to know as normal is taken away.
For instance, if you’ve lost your job, you may wonder how you’ll cope with responsibilities. Will you ever get another job? How will you be able to put food on the table and support your family?
Fear is a natural response. However, you can be stuck in fear so much that you avoid moving forward.
Flexibility and confidence are major parts of resilience. When you learn how to adapt to changes, you’re better equipped to handle crises effectively.
Resilient people find opportunities in the struggle they are facing and move forward despite not knowing how things will work out. More often than not, this mindset leads people into opportunities they’ve never thought about. Try it.
5. Prioritize Wellness and Self-Care
The last thing you want to do when you’re in a difficult situation is to take care of yourself. It feels like all your energy is spent on handling the situation and trying to stay afloat.
However, now more than ever, you need to foster wellness. You need to be in a tip-top emotional state to face the challenges and move forward!
There are several ways you can do this. These include:
- Avoiding negative behavior patterns: For example, you may turn to alcohol, drugs, and other substances to mask the pain. But don’t do it. Focus on healthy ways to manage emotional issues.
- Take care of your body: Exercise, hydrate, meditate, eat healthy foods, and adopt any other healthy habits that improve your mental and physical well-being.
- Practice mindfulness: Journal, meditate, do yoga, or engage in other emotionally beneficial practices that help you connect to yourself. These practices give you more knowledge on how you feel and what you experience. It is a crucial aspect in building resilience.
6. Stay Positive
It’s not easy to see the light at the end of the tunnel when you’re surrounded by darkness. When you’re in the middle of challenging situations, it’s easy to lose hope and feel defeated.
However, it’s crucial to maintain a positive outlook on life. This doesn’t mean you should pretend like nothing is happening around you.
It means accepting that things don’t go as we expect and believing in our abilities to handle challenges and make a difference with our skills.
This mindset that things will always get better will keep you moving. Besides, it will enable you to face all challenges with hope because you’ve seen it work for you before.
7. Set Realistic Goals
Some challenges seem insurmountable, and they stop you in your tracks. You feel trapped and stuck and can no longer move forward.
People with psychological resilience face the challenge head-on. They accept that there’s a challenge ahead. However, this doesn’t stop them. Instead, they look for creative ways to solve the problem despite their circumstances. Furthermore, they set achievable goals and work towards solving the problem day-by-day.
Start by making a list of all the things you can do to change your situation. It doesn’t have to be something significant — something as simple as calling a friend can make all the difference.
8. Believe in Yourself
Life’s challenges can put a damper on your confidence. You may start doubting your ability to get through the hurdle. Sometimes, you may even want to throw in the towel because you believe what you’re facing is too big for you.
This way of thinking can paralyze you into not making any positive moves. The moment you accept those thoughts as the truth, you prevent yourself from moving forward.
In the heat of life’s challenges, building emotional resilience is crucial. No matter what you feel, you need to remind yourself that you’re strong enough to handle anything that comes your way.
This doesn’t mean running from your emotions. It means embracing everything you feel but not letting it trap you into not making positive changes that help you move forward.
9. Seek Professional Help
Sometimes, no matter how hard you try to move forward on your own, you can’t do it. Some challenges catch us by surprise and take a toll on us. However, you can’t let any life obstacle be the end of a happy, fulfilling life.
If you feel like you’re in over your head, it’s best to seek professional mental help. An online therapist will help you deal with your overwhelming emotions and provide you with effective coping mechanisms.
Besides, therapy offers a safe space to talk about issues you may not be comfortable sharing with friends and family.
Mental health professionals on Calmerry can help you develop resilience skills that will prepare you to handle any challenge that comes your way.
- 9 Ways to Enhance Your Resilience - April 11, 2021