Emotional Resilience—Characteristics & its Development

“The greatest glory in living lies in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.”

Nelson Mandela

Emotional resilience refers to one’s ability to acclimatize to stressful situations or crises. It is intrinsic motivation, an inner force by which we can embrace ourselves through all the downsides of life.

Emotional resilience, is also a trait, like I.Q., Emotional Intelligence, Social intelligence, etc. the other aspects of our persona which is present since birth but it can be developed with a little effort. Even though it varies from person to person but there are ways by which it can be strengthened.

 Traits of Emotional Resilience—

Resilient people are conscious of situations, their own emotional reactions and the behaviour of individuals around them. In order to deal with feelings, it is crucial to realize what is causing them and why. This awareness helps resilient people to sustain control of a situation and reflect on new ways to deal with problems.

One more attribute of resilience is the understanding that life is packed with challenges. Whilst we cannot shun many of these problems, but still we can stay open, flexible, and keen to adapt to changes.

Some traits and benefits of emotional resilience—

• Emotional Awareness: As they are emotionally aware they understand what they’re feeling and why.  Since they are more in touch with their own inner life, they can better   realize the feelings of others.

·         Perseverance: Whatever they’re working for either towards external goals or on internal coping strategies, they’re action-oriented. They don’t give up rather they trust in the process.

• Internal Locus of Control: They believe that the actions they take will affect the outcome of an event.
• Optimism: They observe the positives in majority of the situations and have strong belief in their strength. They handle problems with empowerment, and more choices open up.
• Support: Although they tend to be strong individuals, they know the value of social support and have supportive friends and family.

• Sense of Humour: This is a marvellous plus point, as it shifts one's viewpoint from seeing things as a threat to seeing them as a challenge, and this alters how the body reacts to stress. They also get a good laugh more often, and this brings benefits as well.
• Perspective: Resilient individuals learn from their mistakes, they see obstacles as challenges, and allow hardship to make them even stronger. They also try to find meaning in life’s challenges rather than considering themselves as victims.​
• Spirituality: Another trait, being connected to spiritual side has been related with stronger emotional resilience. But this does not mean that people who are not spiritual cannot be resilient.

Ways to Foster Resilience—

We are to a certain degree born with emotional and physical resilience. Emotional resilience is also influenced by some factors which are not under our control, such as age, gender, and exposure to trauma. With little effort resilience can be developed and we can become more resilient even if we are more sensitive to the difficulties of life.

      As stated, emotional resilience can be developed and because stress and change are a     part of life, there are always opportunities to practice resilience. Resilience refers to how well you can deal with and bounce back from the difficulties of life. Resilient people tend to maintain a more positive outlook and cope with stress more effectively.

Some ways to focus on to develop our own resilience-----

1 1. Find a sense of purpose in your life.

   2.Build positive beliefs in your abilities.

    3. Develop a strong social network.

4 4. Embrace change.

   5.  Be optimistic.

   6. Nurture yourself.

   7.Develop your problem-solving skills.

   8.Establish goals.

   9. Keep working on your skills.

   10. Take action to solve problems.

        Resilience takes time to build. We can learn to be resilient and it doesn't involve any specific set of   behaviours or actions.