Resilience - Our ability to bounce back

Resilience is the psychological strength that enables a person to deal with difficulties and hardships. It is like a storehouse of mental strength from which we can take help during the times of distress. Christopher Peterson described resilience as our ability to "struggle well." Losses and difficulties are an inevitable part of life. We all face some or the other setback in our lives, to different degrees. One cannot avoid them. How we face or overcome such hardships tells how resilient we are.

These challenges might be comparatively minor(like getting suspended from a class) or major(like earthquakes, the breakout of pandemic disease, the death of a loved one, etc.). In research on children over the past three decades, resilience generally refers to a class of phenomena characterized by patterns of positive adaptation in the context of significant adversity or risk.

DIFFERENT WAYS IN WHICH PEOPLE TRY TO COPE WITH SUCH HARDSHIPS:

There are two ways of dealing with every stressful situation -- either one faces the difficulties and tries to overcome them by finding solutions, or one takes up the ineffective ways of dealing with such problems. People who are able to overcome their problems -- accept the situation as threatening and try to find solutions. They try to bring about changes that will help them lead the normal course of life. They might also seek help from others like their family and friends but they do take every possible step to overcome unpleasant and difficult situations. On the other hand, there are people who live in denial, and hence, are unable to deal with the situation properly. They often fail to acknowledge the problem. For them ‘flight’ is easier than ‘fight’. They choose to run away from their problems rather than face them.

People who possess resilience are not immune to pain and difficulties. It’s not like they don’t feel stress, grief, remorse, or guilt. They do experience all sorts of human emotions. The only difference that helps them lead a healthy and positive life is their attitude towards such stressful situations. Instead of dwelling upon their failures or grief, they find ways to move on with life. Such situations can be divorce, heart-breaks, accidents, death, financial problems, etc. For them moving on is more important rather than pondering about the past.

REAL-LIFE EXAMPLES FROM THE PAST:

Multiple instances of resilience can be gathered from history. During the freedom struggle of India, Gandhiji and other freedom fighters like Bhagat Singh was brutally tortured by the Britishers but their fight for freedom wasn’t compromised because of that. Despite harsh punishments and hard-handed treatment from the Britishers, they did not lose hope and courage instead they showed their mettle by constantly fighting against their oppressors no matter how hard the situation became.

Another example that we can look at is Martin Luther King Jr. He was an American Christian minister and activist, best known for advancing civil rights through non-violence and civil disobedience. His fight for civil rights wasn’t easy. It made his days physically and emotionally draining but what kept him going through the struggle was his positive outlook despite tragedy. He wrote in his autobiography, “You must not allow yourself to become bitter.” Inspired by Gandhiji and his resilience he followed in the same footsteps.

Nelson Mandela’s struggle in the apartheid movement has inspired thousands of people across the globe. In spite of being imprisoned for 27 years, he did not lose his ability to feel for others. He suffered abandonment, defeat, injustice, and disrespect but never stopped believing in himself. Mandela’s actions make him a perfect portrait of key traits of resilience like empathy, emotional control and self-efficacy.

Rosa Parks was an American civil rights activist who refused to surrender her seat to a white passenger on a segregated bus. This led to the Montgomery bus boycott. Rosa displayed resilience because, despite people yelling and screaming at her to give her seat to the white passenger, she stood her ground. She could’ve accepted the unfair segregation law but she chose to fight against it. She did not surrender thinking that she was black and it was her fate. Barack Obama once said, “Rosa Parks tells us there’s always something we can do”.

These are some of the instances where people have shown resilience during hard times and have effectively overcome stressful events in their lives.

WE CAN FIGHT THIS:

In the present case scenario, where people are affected by COVID-19 all over the world, resilience plays an important role. The novel coronavirus has not only affected people’s health badly but has also caused damage to their mental well-being. People who have been diagnosed positive, their families, their friends, and everyone close to them, are dealing with a great amount of stress. This pandemic has affected the economy to a great extent. Employees are losing their jobs, private sectors are deducting the salaries of their employees, labourers have become jobless and whatnot. COVID-19 and its cases have occupied a major part of our thinking. It has been days since every newspaper and news channel is talking about this pandemic. People are living in anxiety and fear. The constant feeling of threat has a negative impact on their psyche. Due to sudden lockdown, there are many who could not reach their homes and families on time. In times like these, people should not lose hope rather they should stay strong. Our ability to bounce back will help us go through this tough time. In difficult situations like these, we must believe in ourselves and fight constantly to overcome the hurdles that come our way. Therefore, resilience helps us to restore normalcy in our lives.

Resilience is not just for surviving the worst day of our life, but an ability to resonate and rejuvenate life.

Written by:

Manvi Mehrotra (I-YEAR)