My Life with Resilience

To say I have demonstrated resilience is simply a statement. It’s all the contributing factors, the situations, and the actions I have chosen to really make that statement true. What is resilience? Why is it something someone wishes to demonstrate? Resilience is defined as something that is elastic or able to regain its original shape and form. It is also defined as having the capacity to recover from difficulties quickly or being “tough”. A person who demonstrates resilience is someone who has a lot to be proud of. We prove that life will throws curveballs at us, but nothing can stop us from playing the game. I would like to believe that I have the privilege of saying I demonstrated resilience this past year, and in the continuing paragraphs I would like to explain how.

I struggled immensely last year with self-motivation. I had very little to no emotional or financial support from family. That made the transition from high school to college very difficult for me to do all on my own. I became an introvert, which genuinely shocked me seeing that I had just obtained the freedom to hang out with whomever I wanted. Instead of reaching out for help, I sank further into what I call my “self-pity stage”. I would rather stay home from class and sulk, instead of attempting to fix the disastrous mess I created within my curriculum. None of this would have happened however, if I had just opened my mind up a teensy bit to the possibility of reaching out for help. I have discovered, in my NAU130 class alone, that there were several tools and options that could have been readily available for me at any time. If only I had sought out to look for them…

The one thing that has truly picked up my life and steered me in the direction of success, is mindfulness. Mindfulness is essentially being aware of your situation, rather than ignoring it. I found that ignoring my problems was the number one way I dealt with difficulties. Being more aware and mindful of what was happening in my life and looking for alternate solutions, has really helped me grasp my reality. Also, I found that I struggled with having a fixed mindset in previous years. I was stubborn and didn’t give myself options. Now I thrive with a growth mindset, which can be developed and improved through effort and positive perspectives.

There was a quote that I quite enjoyed, written by Maria Konnikova, that beautifully demonstrates the meaning of resilience and what it means to choose how you see the world around you. It goes, “One of the central elements of resilience, Bonanno has found, is perception: Do you conceptualize an event as traumatic, or as an opportunity to learn and grow?”. I love this quote because it really exemplifies the idea that it is up to YOU to define how you see the world. Many times, I chose to see shortcomings as traumatic experiences not knowing I could look at the experiences from multiple perspectives.

Another challenge I always seemed to confront myself about, was my time-management skills. I had hardly ever been proficient at prioritizing my responsibilities during my adolescence, and that had led me to undesirable places in the past. Now, I know what needs to come first. I put aside all of my time-wasting activities, such as phone use and television, and instead focus on completing homework and self-betterment. Without sufficient time management, I find myself becoming overwhelmingly stressed, which leads to negative side effects such as headaches, upset stomach, and fatigue. While browsing the website called mindtools.com, I came across this quote written by the Mindtools team: “Failing to manage your time damages your effectiveness and causes stress.” It couldn’t be a more obviously true statement.

All in all, I have become successful in my life because of the tools and resources I have learned to appreciate and utilize. That is why I am resilient. I overcame my challenges and in turn have become a resourceful and positive-minded person. Nothing will get in my way now that I know the possibilities of what I can accomplish in this lifetime are endless.