Can Grief Become a Disability?
When they happen to you, how do you react?
Are you prepared for the unexpected?
When something goes wrong, do you have the emotional resilience to rise above it and move on? Do you bounce back or do you tend to breakdown?
Emotional resilience means being able to adapt to life’s misfortunes. Resilience allows you to rise above your setbacks and life’s challenges. It equips you with the ability to handle the stress, see past your problems, and find enjoyment in life.
If you lack emotional resilience, you might become overwhelmed and dwell on your problems, feel victimized, or turn to unhealthy coping mechanisms, such as substance abuse.
Today, we discuss some tips to help you become more emotionally resilient.
Live a Healthy Life
When you take care of yourself and keep a healthy lifestyle, it’s easier to be more resilient. According to Sheri Van Dijk, a psychotherapist, to feel more balanced physically you need to:
- Get restful sleep
- Eat nutrient-rich food
- Exercise regularly
- Take medication as prescribed
- Avoid drugs and alcohol
When you take care of your body and health, you are better able to manage stressful times.
Build a Strong Support Network
Nurture and maintain relationships with your loved ones. Spending time with friends, family, and significant others can help build your emotional resilience.
According to Robert Brooks, PhD, resilient people have at least one or two people they can turn to for support in their life.
When life gets hard, don’t withdraw from other people. Instead, seek help from those who care about you.
Set Solid Goals
People with emotional resilience set solid goals and they have the desire to achieve those goals.
Set goals in both your personal and professional life. Goals help give purpose to your life and push you to achieve things which are important to you.
Achieving your goals takes energy, motivation, and effort but it also provides you with more emotional resilience.
Have A Positive Attitude
A positive attitude can make you more emotionally resilient.
Barbara Fredrickson, PhD, author of Positivity, says people with emotional resilience experience both negative and positive emotions even in difficult or painful situations. They feel pain, mourn loss, and endure frustrations, but they also find some silver lining in even the worst of circumstances.
She notes that people who lack emotional resilience experience only negative emotions when things go wrong.
Remember many of life’s problems are temporary and will pass. Focus on all the good things in your life.
Be Prepared For the Unexpected
Life’s obstacles strike when you least expect them and when they do many of us are totally unprepared emotionally and financially.
Imagine, you are suddenly unable to work. Without an income, it’s easy to quickly exhaust your savings. The money you’ve managed to put away for a vacation, the kids’ education, and your own retirement now has to be spent on gas, groceries, and other necessities.
Most Americans live paycheck to paycheck. There’s little or no money left for unexpected events such as injury or illness—the primary causes of disability.
Non-resilient people are not prepared. They let their worries get the better of them. They stress and breakdown. In contrast, people with emotional resilience prepare for the future and have a plan.
To become increase your emotional resilience, prepare a plan. Our Financial Security Plan provides a painless guide to prepare for the unimaginable.
Emotional Resilience Can Be Developed
The good news is emotional resilience is not a trait people are born with but rather involves behaviors, thoughts, and actions which can be learned and developed by anyone.
It’s human nature to resist change particularly when life hits us with the unexpected, but following the above mentioned tips can help you develop greater emotional resilience and prepare to handle life’s challenges.
photo credit: Keep smiling via photopin (license)
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