Strength and resilience are not qualities we’re born with. And often we best learn them during our most trying times—like the one we’re going through right now with the pandemic. Here are some other examples of times we learn by surviving a challenge:
- Calming ourselves as a baby after a few good nights of loud crying
- Diving back into dating and making ourselves vulnerable after our heart has been broken
- Saying yes to a new work challenge and sweating over how to do it
When we’re in the middle of the struggle, we may want to give up. But we go on despite how hard it is, and that effort of going through the motions—despite our feelings—is what builds the muscle for being more resilient.
Even when we’re faced with a subsequent difficulty, we may not be immediately buoyed by the knowledge that we’ve gone through this before, that we can do it. But over time, we do get stronger, and it becomes clearer that we can take comfort in our strength and resilience.
When we don’t know what to do and feel overwhelmed by forces outside of our control, we can remember there have been other times when this was true—and we survived. We can get through it, and we’ll be stronger and more resilient for the next challenge.
Take a minute and write down how you might be different or stronger after the pandemic.
Recent Comments