You have survived a lot of challenges and hardships in your life. You have endured addiction, abuse, trauma, mental illness, or a combination of these and somehow you are still here. Many people aren’t as fortunate to pull through. You might wonder how or why you are still around to tell the tale. So what is it that determines who continues rolling with the punches life throws? The answer lies within each person: Resilience.
How Resilience Works for You?
Resilience is an innate capability that some people seem to have that allows them to keep going despite setbacks. You might have felt like giving up when your addiction and other issues became overwhelming, but your resilience kept you alive.
Now that you are in recovery, you need resilience more than ever. Recovery is not easy and you need to face your old traumas and work through them. No matter how many challenges or even possible relapses, your resilience helps you keep going.
BUILDING YOUR RESILIENCE
The more resilient you are, the better you deal with challenges. There are ways to build this up so you can bounce back from adversity or even stress. Here are four tips to help build your resilience.
1. You are stronger in numbers. Having a support system helps you overcome things and builds your resilience. If you can get past challenges with people supporting you, you learn that you can take on anything.
2. Learning from the past. Experience is the best teacher. Looking back on how you coped with previous situations provides you with insight. Looking back also helps you strategize on how you can tackle any existing or future issues. Identify your positive and negative responses and behaviors to help guide you.
3. Self-care! When you are busy trying to figure things out and surviving day to day, you tend to overlook one major component: You! Don’t forget to tend to your own needs. Finding inner peace and serenity through meditation, yoga or deep breathing helps you keep balanced during tough situations and builds your resilience.
4. Be proactive. You can’t just close your eyes and have all your problems disappear. Ignoring them won’t help, either. Make a plan of action to tackle your problems. Think things through, consult your support system, make a plan, and execute it. When you actively work through your problem, you improve your situation and become a stronger problem solver.
BUILT TO LAST
It’s important to know the difference between being resilient and being detached and disconnected to tough things out. Ignoring the issues or downplaying them doesn’t solve them. Putting in the time to take care of yourself and work on the situation is the only way to get past it. Building your ability to weather the proverbial storms in your life brings you success in recovery.
Courtesy of Recovery Connection