R as in RESILIENCE (A-Z Challenge)

Being resilient is an important part of life. For materials, resilient refers to the ability of a spring back into shape when bent. For people, resilience has to do with the ability to "bounce back" from difficulties. It speaks of a toughness of spirit, mind and body, and the ability to cope with stress.

My favourite quote on the matter: "Blessed are the flexible, for they shall not be bent out of shape." (Though, strictly speaking, flexibility and resilience are not quite the same thing.)

We all have some level of resilience. The important thing is to work at developing that, so we can more effectively cope with the challenges of life around us. 

The American Psychological Association (APA) suggests "10 Ways to Build Resilience", which are:

1. maintaining good relationships with close family members, friends and others;
2. to avoid seeing crises or stressful events as unbearable problems;
3. to accept circumstances that cannot be changed;
4. to develop realistic goals and move towards them;
5. to take decisive actions in adverse situations;
6. to look for opportunities of self-discovery after a struggle with loss;
7. developing self-confidence;
8. to keep a long-term perspective and consider the stressful event in a broader context;
9. to maintain a hopeful outlook, expecting good things and visualizing what is wished;
10. to take care of one's mind and body, exercising regularly, paying attention to one's own needs and feelings. * ^(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychological_resilience. Accessed April 19, 2013.)

A few years ago, I got into a very difficult situation in which my resilience was not as strong as I thought. Basically, I was blindsided by some people I thought were friends. I'm still recovering and trying to rebuild. I think that resilience is possible for everyone, if we can follow the APA suggestions. 

R is also for reliable, rustling (bad!), rotary, recorded, and romance.

Blessings and Bear hugs, friends. 

Addendum

Tigger, the Tiger, of the Hundred Acre Wood, had more bounce to the ounce than any other creature in the Wood (including any passing Heffalumps). Do you think that Tigger had a lot of resilience?