According to the American Heritage College Dictionary I keep on my desk, the definition of resilience is: the ability to spring back and recover quickly after being bent, stretched or compressed.

Let’s face it; life has a way of bending, stretching and compressing us, even when we do our best to avoid it. Resiliency is a trait that can be helpful to everyone on the planet. But it can be especially helpful to writers, artists, and creative types.

Artists (and people with artistic sensibilities) are often bent, stretched or compressed by rejection, society’s lack of interest, and/or the critics within and without. But I think the roots of resiliency go deeper than just being able to bounce back after criticism and rejection. I think it can also involve a basic attitude about life. In my mind, resilient people have several characteristics in common.

They basically have:

1. a positive outlook on life
2. a sense of a bigger purpose at play in their lives
3. a certain level of trust in themselves and the processes of life
4. flexibility when life throws a curveball
5. an ability to keep going in the face of fear
6. an ability to find many solutions to a problem
7. an acceptance of diversity and differences
8. a desire to grow and change

On a scale of 1 – 10 where do you fall?
1 = “I’m not the least bit resilient.”
10 = “I’m the most resilient person I’ve ever known.”

I feel like I’m at about a 7.5. But I’d like to get that number even higher. How resilient are you? I’d love to hear from you.

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