Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall. Confucius
The first book of the From Concept to Action Book Club is Resilience: Discovering a New Strength at Times of Stress by Frederic Flach. This book was selected because in the current economic environment it is beneficial to understand resilience and to be able to tap into it. First of all, resilience is not tightly controlling our emotions so that during difficult times we don’t expose any weaknesses or vulnerabilities — that’s avoidance and denial. Resilience is about recovery and restructuring. Therefore, when you are going through a difficult time and you allow yourself to feel sadness, anger, fear it means that you are strong, not weak.
We have all heard amazing stories of resiliency where people have not just recovered, but thrived following traumatic events. Here is a wonderful demonstration of this — the story of a paraplegic mountain climber climbing El Capitan: http://tinyurl.com/d6q528. And, it is not uncommon for people to look back on highly stressful periods and see that their greatest moments of growth resulted from those periods. However, for most of us, the greater the stress, the more difficult it can be to step back and see the associated opportunities. It is particularly difficult to step back if it feels like our safety and/or identity is at stake. Here are a few things you can do to tap into your resiliency. First, focus on what you can control — it may seem small and insignificant at first, but when you focus only on what you can control the scope of what you can control expands. Second, consciously let go of what you can’t control, accept that it is what it is and you cannot change it — being stressed and worried only impacts you, it does not change the situation other than to make it worse. Third, reframe the messages playing in your head from negative to positive. Fourth, surround yourself with people who are supportive and creative.
If you would like to learn more about resiliency and assess resiliency in you and your environment, please join the From Concept to Action Book Cluf for a free summary of Frederic Flach’s book and how to apply it in your daily life.
Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, ambition inspired, and success achieved. by Helen Keller
