THE ‘4 ‘R’S – READING, (W)RITING. ‘RITHMETIC & RESILIENCE
“And once the storm is over, you won’t remember how you made it through, how you managed to survive. You won’t even be sure whether the storm is really over. But one thing is certain. When you come out of the storm, you won’t be the same person who walked in. That’s what this storm’s all about.” Haruki Murakami
Resilient: (of a person) recovering easily and easily from shock, illness or hardship etc; irrepressible. Collins English Dictionary
Challenges are a natural part of life and emphasise the inevitability of encountering difficulties. Just as you can be sure that the sun rises each day (even if you cant see it behind the clouds) , so too will challenges and difficulties find their way into our lives. It’s a constant, an inevitability we must face and overcome daily. How prepared we are psychologically at least will depend on how we weather the storm!
Resilience is a topic we hear about all the time, in mental health, but are we focusing on the right aspects? Typically, our conversations and efforts revolve around teaching people about mental health itself. We talk about what it is, the signs to watch for, and how to seek help when things go south. But what if we’re missing a crucial piece of the puzzle? What if, instead of just educating people about mental health issues, we taught them how to live and work in ways that help prevent these issues from manifesting themselves in the first place?
I’m fed up with the fluffy approach to the mental health. For the most part, it’s awareness-based, which means training people on the ‘what’ with no ‘how’. Granted, mental health awareness is an ongoing conversation and an important one, although only up until recently, it’s been had in whispers. I’m happy that the subject is being brought into the open, with initiatives like mental health awareness talks and mental health weeks etc., but it’s not enough.
This is where resilience training comes into play. By fostering resilience, we can help people handle life’s inevitable ups and downs more effectively, reducing the likelihood of poor mental health. Resilience isn’t just about bouncing back from adversity; it’s about developing a toolkit to navigate life’s challenges proactively. And here’s the good news: it’s trainable. In the words of Mary Holloway “Resilience is knowing that you are the only one that has the power and the responsibility to pick yourself up.”
The World Health Organization (WHO) gives us a fantastic definition of health: “a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being, not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.” It’s a holistic approach that highlights the positive dimensions of mental health. This includes feeling good about us, having confidence in our abilities, enjoying autonomy, being competent in our endeavours, and realising our potential — both intellectually and emotionally.
Mental health, then, is not just about avoiding illness. It’s about enhancing our individual and communal capacities to achieve our goals and thrive. Research shows that various psychological, social, and behavioural factors can protect and support our mental health. These factors build resilience, help us fend off diseases, delay the onset of disabilities, and speed up recovery when we do get sick.
Given this understanding, it’s clear that such training should be a universal part of our lives. From young children and students to adults and business leaders, everyone can benefit from learning how to handle stress and adversity effectively. Too often, resilience is a by-product of experiencing hardship. While there’s no denying that overcoming challenges can make us stronger, we shouldn’t leave this crucial skill to chance.
In ‘The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People’, Stephen Covey talks about the need for a paradigm shift for significant change to happen. He uses the powerful metaphor of avoiding hacking away at the leaves of attitude and behaviours instead of getting to the root of the problem: our paradigm. It is from our paradigm — the way we view the world — that determines how we operate, behave and act. As the saying goes “The world is not as it is, but as we are.”
Instead of just treating symptoms, we need to address the root cause by changing how we perceive and respond to challenges. This is to be found in our purpose, our compass and our anchor. By adopting a purposeful approach to teaching and developing resilience, we can minimize the risk of developing mental health problems when life gets tough. It’s like the cliché, “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach him to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.”
Imagine if resilience training was as common as teaching math or reading in schools. If businesses invested in it for their employees, we’d likely see a decrease in workplace stress, and an increase in productivity and job satisfaction. By proactively fostering resilience, we can create a society that doesn’t just react to mental health issues but actively works to prevent them. It’s time to shift our focus and ensure that resilience training is woven into the fabric of our education systems, workplaces, and communities. As the Buddha says “Pain is inevitable. Suffering is optional.”
