How being Joyful helps your Resilience

We hear about resilience often. It is one of the biggest buzz words of 2020. With droughts, fires, floods and now COVID, do you feel a little resilience fatigued? Well, you wouldn’t be alone. Here is a fresh look at resilience.

I believe resilience is on of the most important virtues a person can have. In fact, it is cornerstone of future proofing any kind of system, whether medical, computer, structures, and yes people.  How we manage a setback, a tragedy, a separation, a death, the unpredictability of weather patterns and a pandemic is based on our personal emotional resilience.

We know that life happens, and for some people it can be harder than for others, but that does not determine resilience. What I have discovered in my work with clients, research and in my personal experience, is that it is what we do in between the hard times that gets us through.

People with a resilient mindset is more than optimistic.  They are aware, open-minded, adaptable, decisive, and committed.

They engage in life fully and embrace and accept certain beliefs that shape their life perspective and ultimately give them resilience. They know that resilience is not gained from just one event, but rather it is ever evolving. Some of the beliefs they have include:

1. I always endure, and ride the waves of life
2. Life is a journey of learning and growing
3. I practice gratitude and find blessings in life
4. I do not need to go it alone; I get support and help
5. I make the most out of life and more
6. I trust in life’s outcomes
7. I accept pain, discomfort, and negative feelings as information for growth
8. I take responsibility for myself, my feelings, my choices, and my life
9. I practice self-compassion, and believe I am worthy of help and support
10. I have what it takes

Do you have a resilient mindset?  How many of the 10 beliefs are part of the way you see yourself and life?

The good news is that resilience is not something you are born with.  You can learn to become more resilient.  It is like building a muscle. It becomes stronger because of the little things you do day-to-day that support your wellbeing.

Brené Brown is a researcher and expert on vulnerability.  She says “joy collected over time fuels resilience – ensuring we will have reservoirs of emotional strength when hard things happen.”  I believe the more Joy Collectors we have in the world the more resilient we are as individuals, families, communities, countries and of course the world.

Come on….let’s be joy collectors together.