ADVERSITY – FACE IT FIGHT IT

ADVERSITY – FACE IT FIGHT IT

Lately, the world seems to be lurching from one crisis to another. We’ve experienced a global pandemic, dramatic changes to how we conduct our daily lives, economic uncertainty, and political and social turmoil, as well as an array of natural disasters. Then there are personal traumas that people are also dealing with, such as the loss of a loved one, declining health, unemployment, business loss, and divorce, broken family bonds, lost love, violent crime, or tragic accidents. For many us, this is a time of unprecedented struggle and upheaval.

Whether the source of disruption in your life is a global emergency or a personal tragedy—or both—living through difficult times can take a heavy toll on your mood, health, and outlook. It can leave you feeling helpless and overwhelmed by stress and anxiety. You may be painfully grieving all that you’ve lost, flooded by a slew of difficult, conflicting emotions, or uncertain about how to move on with your life. You may even feel that your life is totally out of control and you’re powerless to affect whatever may happen next.

While there’s no way to avoid sorrow, adversity, or distress in life, there are ways to help smooth the rough waters and regain a sense of control. Resilience is the ability to cope with the loss, change, and trauma that have been inevitable parts of life even before these extraordinary times. Building resilience can help you better adapt to life-changing events, cope with turbulent times, and bounce back from hardship and tragedy.

Why do some people seem to be better able to cope in these troubling times than others? While everyone’s situation is different, it is true that people with resilience tend to have a higher tolerance for the emotional distress generated by hard times. The more resilient you are, the better you’re able to tolerate the feelings of stress, anxiety, and sadness that accompany trauma and adversity—and find a way to rebound from setbacks.
Good, so if you are resilient you can beat the odds…..

How do you come to possess resilience? It is not something you can learn from a book, nor something you can buy off the shelf. It is not handed down through generation or a character that schools can train you in. Resilience is built within you, not without. Unless you’ve faced adversity in your life before, it’s unlikely you’ve had the need or opportunity to develop resilience. Drawing on past experiences can help you cope with the challenges you’re facing today. And for such experience, you need to stand up to the adversity. Hiding out or running away can never help you build the needed resilience, which, incidentally, is just another word for inbuilt resistance to adversity.

When you or your surroundings face crisis, there are two ways you can respond. You could run away or stand up and face it squarely. The problem with the first approach is that adversity has a way of reaching you, however fast you run or wherever you hide. Whereas the universal rule is that everyone is born with the ability to resist and beat adversity, regardless of how hard it is. But you need to face it first and draw from your internal power.

When in trouble, face it, figure it, fight it and beat it. There is lesser chance of it troubling you again.