4403 individuals participated in Tokyo Paralympics 2020. Individuals with a range of physical disabilities. They are the victims of their lives, whether by birth or due to accidents. They could have been victims for the rest of their lives, but they are not. They decided against the limitations of their bodies. They fought to gain control over their lives and they won. They are inspirations to the rest of the physically normal humans.
What does make them special? Their resilience!
What is resilience?
Nobody knows what will come in the future. Be it troubles of daily life or the traumatic experiences of prolonged impact, every individual encounters the twists and turns of life. The effects of these incidents result in a change in behavior, emotion, and future actions. In general, most people accept these changes over the course of their life and move forward, all because of resilience.
Why is it important?
Resilience is the ability to adapt to the ever-changing situations of life. We all face tragedy, adversity, threats, trauma, stress from personal, financial, and professional fronts, or debilitating health problems. Resilience makes us stand on our ground or bounce back from the aftereffects of these troubling events. It also provides the opportunity to grow as a human.
We do not control the majority of dire events around us, such as earthquakes, storms, or the course of a river. They are adverse and painful, however, they should not determine our course of emotions. We do have control over many aspects of our lives and resilience pivots the directions and growth.
Becoming resilient does not prevent occurrences of difficulties, rather it enables us to go through them and even improve our life.
How to develop resilience?
Resilience is an innate trait of humans. All the people have the ability to nurture and foster resilience. Like any development process, it certainly requires time, effort, and some strategies.
Here is a list of habits to increase resilience.
Choose Relationships:
Being empathetic and building meaningful relationships remind us that we all face difficulties and we are never alone. Close relationships provide a solid support system in case of need.
Be part of a social circle. Join a group or community with mutual values. This will provide a sense of belonging, hope, and purpose for life.
Choose Yourself:
A healthy body is a home for a healthy individual. A positive lifestyle with adequate sleep, proper food, and regular exercise lessen stress.
Mindfulness, yoga, prayers, meditation, and other spiritual activities prime the mind into positivity.
Find Your Purpose:
By helping others we develop a sense of connection, self-worth, and purpose in life. They all contribute to resilience.
Acknowledging own troubles makes it easier to focus on the solutions. Even if the problem is too big to handle, see through it and break them into smaller doable actions.
Set a realistic goal, it can be anything that you want to achieve and move towards it. The progress may be slow or small, but the result is definitely achievable if the effort is consistent.
Keep learning from the past and maintain a positive mindset. Identify areas where thinking gets irrational. Remind yourself that the past is not an indicator of the future and adopt a balanced thinking pattern. Expect good things from the future, as you never know what is going to happen.
