By Judith E. Lipson, M.A., LPC

Many professionals describe resilience as the ability of a child or individual to respond successfully to their life’s challenges.

Do you know people who have faced repeated adversity yet live a happy, successful life? People who come to mind include Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel, Oprah (poverty and abuse) and child abuse survivor Dave Pelzer (author of A Child Called It). Resiliency is an individual’s ability to cope with stress and adversity by bouncing back. Though often assumed to be a magic trait that you have or you don’t, it is now recognized as something that can be developed.

And right now, during the novel coronavirus pandemic, people are talking about resilience with regularity.

The following are appropriate for you or your children:

• Develop your decision-making skills, assertiveness, independence, impulse control, and problem solving.
• Have a sense of humor. Laugh in the face of adversity by enjoying funny jokes and movies.
• Improve your confidence by acknowledging what you are good at and valuing your self-worth.
• Increase your coping resources such as nutrition, exercise and meditation to reduce stress as well as increase resilience.
• Share your troubles with friends and professionals for solutions, resources and perspective.
• Be grateful for what you do have and appreciate the simple things in life.
• Take action, no matter how small.
• Be of service to others. Happiness and well-being are enhanced when you engage in an act of kindness.

Recognize that most of life’s hardships are temporary. When you can’t change something outside yourself, even a life-changing event can be viewed differently by changing your internal response to the event. [Read more…]