13. what is stress resilience...

​13.
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Another thing people talk about is resilience. What is that?

Yes - you are right. For a while everyone was talking about work-life balance, now the new topic is the field of stress resilience. To some extent, it is because we have now realised it is not possible to draw a clear line between our private and work lives.

Resilience is the ability to adapt, to bounce back from adversities in life.
It is the capacity to navigate challenges, setbacks and stressful situations. Resilience involves having inner strength and flexibility.  Resilient people also experience hardships and difficulties. But there are some aspects that allow them to deal with those effectively:

• Great support network: they have people who have their back. Think community, think meaningful relationships, and people who remind us that we are not alone but also pull us forward when needed.
• Self care as priority: they find outlet in exercise, meditation, eating well, journaling, and other key habits. Now, a very important distinction - sometimes, self care is also having strict discipline.
• Cultivating optimism: for years personality tests used to make us believe that optimism is part of character. Now we know - it is a choice. Consistent choice we make every day, every moment.
• Adaptability and being present: change is inevitable and resilience means we are able to enjoy the present moment and be in a state of uncertainty, we are ok with not having full control over life.
• Emotional regulation: our skills to express and manage our emotions is key to building stress resilience, to navigate situations with clarity but also to use and generate emotions to our advantage.

Well, that is cool but… I feel a bit ashamed, I do not think I am resilient.
        I am glad you said that. None of us is this perfect human, so…