Years ago, I was given an article by my classmate titled " How Resilience Works " . Though I had read it long time back, I could not relate to the article for many reasons. It was debunking the oft repeated quote from many a people who say " I am resilient “. Infact one does not know whether he is resilient or not, unless one goes through some hardship.

In the current context where I am placed, it was appropriate for me to actually reread the article. The author essentially talks about three essential qualities of resilient people

  • Staunch acceptance of reality

  • In any of the hard ships , resilient people do not have false hopes and do not create optimistic beliefs. They face the situation head-on. Unlike taking in to fanciful thinking and getting distressed about false expectations, it is the ability to face the situation and not get mentally affected by it that makes a person resilient

  • Deep belief often buttressed by strongly held values that life is meaningful

  • Finding meaning in every hard ship is a fundamental trait of resilient people. This meaning is useful in constructing bridges to the current reality to a powerful , fuller better constructed future (Essential reading : Man’s search for meaning - Victor E. Frankyl)

  • An uncanny ability to improvise

  • Ability to make do with whatever is in hand.Bricolers are people who are always tinkering, putting objects to unfamiliar uses. People who survived from the concentration camps were people who were always tinkering, making use of objects to save themselves from harsher weather conditions, etc. It is this ability to tinker that made these people quality for resilience

The above traits remind me of one of my favorite movies - Shawshank’s redemption. The protagonist played by Tim Robbins , faces the horrendous situations in the prison,sees the life in a meaningful way and then finally using the tinkering skills, he manages to escape the prison - all the traits of a resilient person are seen in the movie.

Am I resilient person ? Will I see the life from now on as a meaningful one ? Will I see something meaningful in these hard times ? One thing for sure, I want to..Whether I will be able to do it , time will decide. Anyway I have not lost my tinkering skills. I have also learnt to face the reality. One trait that I need to develop to qualify for a resilient person is to see meaning in the hardship I am facing

Never imagined an archived article would provide me such an insight in to my life.  Probably I should mail the person thanking for passing on the article..