Recently I designed and delivered several training workshops on Resilience. I have been interested in Resilience for many years and was delighted to speak at the National Forum on Resilience at the invitation of President McAleese in January 2010. My work with Resilience has continued with my coaching practice, by working with clients and focusing on developing Resilience. Throughout my professional life many people have posed the question, “How can you be so resilient?”
My motivation to write this article came from a recent experience in supporting someone else. This prompted me to share my personal experience in order to support others. I previously suffered greatly from stress, which impacted upon me in different ways. There are many strains and pressures in life which affect our ability to cope. Personally, stress impacted my mindset, my physical health and my mental health, which led to some unhelpful behaviours ending up in a vicious cycle. This cycle led to me to feel powerless and to believe I had no control over my life.
I have dedicated a large amount of time to developing myself personally and researching the area of Resilience to benefit others. Everyone experiences stress and pressure in different ways, and I felt compelled to share my definition of Resilience in the hope that others will take action. I hope that this will empower others to take control and have a ripple effect within our society, to create a positive impact.
At the end of the day I believe Resilience is down to personal empowerment and control. You need to discover your inner resource to feel empowered and in control. We all have this inner resource, even if we have only seen glimpses of it within ourselves. How to gain access to this inner resource is unique and individual to each person. This Resilience resource depends on your mindset, experience and ability to change dynamically. Self awareness and self esteem are crucial elements to facilitate this change. To clarify, self esteem is how you perceive yourself and how you believe how others may perceive you.
Sometimes stressful events can knock us off balance and that in turn makes us feel vulnerable. It’s important to seek support from others, but it is also vital that we take personal responsibility to be resilient.
