The Greek philosopher, Aristotle said “Give me the first seven years of a child, and I will give you the man”. As we experience life, we realize that the most important thing that ensures success in life is character. One of the important aspects of a strong character is emotional resilience, the ability to be emotionally restrained and calm under difficult circumstances.
Emotional resilience is when you are able to calm your frantic mind after encountering a negative experience. While some people are better equipped to handle stressful situations, emotional resilience is something that you can become aware of and learn and prepare yourself accordingly.
Characteristics that emotionally resilient people share:
Bias for Action
People with strong emotional resilience are usually not taking a difficulty too seriously in their head that they’re occupied by it throughout the day in thinking about the problem, rather they’re usually doing something to solve the problem. And, actions matter more than thoughts and hence there is usually something that they can drive in terms of results and change the difficult situation into a better situation.
Sense of Humor
Usually emotionally resilient people have a tendency to laugh at themselves that they’re stuck in a difficult situation. They usually find a way to laugh out and have some fun even in a difficult situation. This brings additional benefits of not being very serious. If somebody is always serious, then you should be carefully thinking about their emotional resilience because it may not be sustainable and internally they might be taking too much pressure.
Optimism
Emotional resilient people are usually optimistic about the future, if not always the case. This is primarily coming from their internal belief in themselves to be able to handle any situation.
Clarity about “Why”
Emotionally resilient people have a clear sense of purpose and clarity in a larger picture and hence they know “Why” they have to endure a difficult phase. Having this clarity helps them to hold on to the things and not give up in a difficult circumstance.
Spiritual Connections
People who are spiritually connected internally (within themselves) have their own self-talk with something divine that they believe in and it helps them to manage themselves in a difficult phase of life.
Managing Negative Thoughts
Emotionally resilient people don’t get occupied in negative thoughts for a long time and they tend to act to change the situation. They don’t put themselves into too much of thinking and thoughts. On the overall, they manage their thoughts well.
Emotional Resilience can be taught
Different people might naturally have different abilities in terms of emotional resilience, but people can learn to be emotionally resilient. Also, people learn that nothing in this world is permanent – not a difficult situation and not a favorable situation, everything changes. Once people see this and experience this in life, they become more resilient and they tend to hold on to the rope against strong tides.
Usually children don’t get into too much trouble that needs emotional resilience. But, as they grow, the world around them starts to test them. Children usually learn first hand from the emotional resilience shown by their parents and siblings. While each person has his or her own level that they can manage and tolerate, learning and seeing first hand from others will influence how they can do it.
Also, learning in a healthy way about “thought management” , “being humorous”, “thinking more actively about what action can be taken in a situation to change the situation”, and “belief in the divine that things will become better” are all conscious acts that make any difficult situation better.
Hope this is useful, thank you.
You may like to read: Personalized Learning for Kids, C Programming for Kids, & Teaching Kids about Good Intentions
