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In this week’s podcast we discuss our naturally endowed resiliency. This is the first show of a two part series that we are doing to discuss this. There are certainly some days when we don’t feel very resilient and it can feel like life gets the best of us but this week we really explore how we maintain and build our resiliency as well as what can disrupt it. The research supporting resiliency goes back about fifty years and began by looking at children who grew up in the most challenging of circumstances and yet, went on to live thriving lives. And, researchers have found seven things that can impact our resiliency: impulse control which includes delaying gratification and tolerating ambiguity, emotional regulation, flexible and accurate thinking, optimism, self-efficacy and empathy and connection. This week we really focus on self-efficacy, optimism and our ability to respond or what we call response-ability. These beliefs about our ability to choose to respond really can impact our resilience and our ability to see our internal environment and to change that really matter. Also, it allows us to recognize that we can make clear requests about what we need in any moment.

The other component that we explore is how empathy and connection impact our resiliency. Developing the skill to reach out to others for support is a key part of coping and research shows that those who develop this skill not only have more meaningful lives but also, they do in fact cope better in the face of challenge. Empathy for others also has a major impact on our resiliency as well because, when we can put ourselves in someone else’s shoes, we are also able to reach out more easily. We hope you enjoy the show and look forward to hearing your comments.