Let’s Keep Talking About Resilience!

I’ve written about resilience before and truthfully, I know I will continue to do so until I’m blue in the face. In times like we’re facing now, it feels like we could all use an extra dose of resilience, but it’s also easy getting caught up saying the phrase “in times like now…”. The fact is that these feelings of uncertainty won’t be limited to 2020. I don’t know about you, but I would love to know, without a doubt, that I’m able to bounce back from setbacks and “keep calm and carry on” no matter the time and date.

A while back, I bought the book Resilient: How to Grow an Unshakable Core of Calm, Strength, and Happiness by Rick Hanson. But only recently did I feel called to pick it up and dig in. I’m so glad I did because it’s given some really practical strategies to use everyday, relying on neuroscientific research to transform the way you think. 

Here’s my take on what I learned: the brain is a negative nelly. What do I mean by that? Well, it’s negative because it wants to protect you, and so it’s always scanning your environment, looking for threats. That’s not a bad thing; it’s watching your back like a good friend! However, we can train our brains to not only scan for threats, but also for goodness. It’s completely capable of doing that too!

Hanson talks about a specific method of training your brain to look for good. He calls it HEAL:

1. Have a good experience.
2. Enrich it; be mindful of what you’re feeling; let the feelings wash over you and linger.
3. Absorb it; commit it to memory.
4. Link it; use it to sooth and replace another memory of experience that is more negative. 

HEALing takes practice and repetition, but it can really help over time. Martin Seligman, the father of positive psychology, has performed research and organized field tests across the globe proving that ongoing practices in well-being lead to lasting results. So, have hope! And build resilience!