Resilience
We often talk about resilience, but what do we mean by this?
What things can we do to develop resilience?
There are lots of words which can be used to describe resilience as seen below:
- Adjustability.
- Strength.
- Toughness.
- Adaptability.
- Flexibility.
- Hardness.
- Adjustability.
'Resilience is the ability of an (ecosystem)to return to its original state after being disturbed.'
The Collins Dictionary
Complete the sorting activity below by identifying the characteristics of resilience and those that are not.
Sort the statements into categories of resilience and not resilience.
Not having close friends.
Having some control over your emotions.
Good friendships.
Emotions feel out of control.
Feeling good about yourself.
Feeling negative about your life.
Not feeling good about yourself.
Control over remembering difficult experiences.
Feeling valued.
Understanding how difficult things might affect you.
Feeling life is not worth living.
Believing your life has meaning.
We suffer not from the events in our lives but from our judgement about them!
Epictetus.
Triangle of Well-being and Resilience Model
The Triangle of Well-being and Resilience model, developed by Dr. Dan Siegel (2010), explains how our thoughts and experiences shape the physical connections between the various parts of our brain. The arrows in Dr. Siegel’s model below point in every direction and they all join together. The model shows that our mind, brain and relationships are all parts of a system that is always responding to new experiences. This capacity for change (neuroplasticity) is a quite a new idea. Not too long ago scientists were certain that the basic structure of the brain was formed in childhood and physical reworking of the connections in the brain was impossible, but this has been proven to be untrue.
Watch the below video to find out more about resilience.
Take a moment to think about the questions below:
- What does resilience mean to you?
- Do you think you are a resilient person?