Resilience is the ability to “bounce back” from stressful or challenging experiences. Research has shown that resilience is ordinary, not extraordinary.

People commonly demonstrate resilience. But our capacity for resilience can only be observed during challenging times like a job loss, end of a relationship or stressful work situation.

It is not a trait that people either have or do not have. It is a process where an individual navigates and negotiates with the resources in their environment, in order to cope and thrive through challenges.

It involves behaviours, thoughts and choices that can be learned and developed in anyone at any stage. It is a fluid attribute that changes with changing circumstances.

There is no one set formula to develop resilience. There is a unique pathway to resilience for each individual that can be developed.

Each of us can develop a better understanding of the strengths we already have that make us resilient plus the areas we could develop to further enhance resilience. 

Developing a greater level of resilience doesn’t stop bad or stressful events from happening, but it can reduce the impact of these events on our lives and the time taken to recover from them.

Being resilient does not mean being immune to the emotions associated with a stressful event but instead it means fully experiencing emotions such as grief, sadness, guilt and anger, while maintaining perspective and continuing on with life with a sense of hopefulness. It means effectively dealing with the stressful event and then afterwards using the experience as an opportunity for personal development.