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.
{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
I wonder about my out of ten resilience – I guess actually I’m probably a 6 – because although I feel quite ‘squashed’ sometimes, I know I can and do bounce back pretty consistently.
I don’t have any major fears, I have quite a few challenges but I’m pretty flexible and I’d say acceptant of diversity.
Curveballs are OK if you have the right gloves on I guess!
A nice article Susan. Thank you.
Hi Carrie,
I think a 6 is pretty darn good. You bounce back pretty consistently. No major fears. Curveballs with the right gloves. I like it!
Thought provoking post, Susan.
Maybe resilience is like wine or cheese, aged to perfection. Or the formation of rock (types), each made by a slightly different process. Or could be a matter of spiritual or emotional physics – the swing of the pendulum is equal in each direction until it comes to rest. Maybe it is mathematical, as in additive inverses. Perhaps our normal state is to seek the zero point on the number line and a few want to take the risks to achieve a position in the positive numbers. I think my degree or resilience is on a sliding scale. (Not sure that is a good thing.)
I do know that we only call people heroes who do extraordinary things during extraordinary situations.
Good post, still thinking about it…
I like the way your mind works, Nadine. You sound pretty resilient to me.
I think that there are people who are truly heroic that we don’t even recognize–ordinary people going through extraordinary hard times in their lives. During these times, I think it can be a heroic act to simply get through the day.
Comments from the Inked-In blog where I also posted “Are You Resilient?”:
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I think I’m probably at something pathetic like 2. Although, I do have a massive desire to grow…ho ho ho.
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A year or two back, I’d have said 2-3. But now, maybe 6. Striving on in the face of negativity (whether from within or without) is hard, but it can be done. At least, that’s what I keep telling myself!
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Let’s see #1 depends on what day it is. Mondays I am not so positive. But Fridays, that’s a different story. I do have a sense of a bigger purpose. Yes indeed. It is to write more stories, read more books, see more movies and listen to more music. Oh, and take out the garbage. When I die, that’s going to be God’s first words to me, “Take out the garbage. It’s been waiting, Bardie.” And, yes, tell more jokes. That is my higher purpose. To tell more jokes. Let’s see #3. I have to trust my own creativity. Because if I don’t trust it, nobody else will. And I sure ain’t waiting. #4 helps when you have a bottle of rum, or is that tequila? I can’t seem to remember. Guess that’s what happens to the brain cells. And since Stephen King made a whole career out of fear, why not me? I have the solutions. I just can’t figure out the problem. I accept diversity and difference as long as things remain the same. And I just don’t know about #8. I seem to be getting shorter all the time.
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In all modesty, I have to give myself a high resiliency rating. I have trouble with the bigger purpose playing with my life idea though. I subscribe to the LIFE IS A COSMIC ACCIDENT philosophy. This allows me to feel responsible for my failure or success and accept the consequences of my actions. Bouncing back from the dishonesty, betrayal and selfishness of others is a tougher problem, requiring patience and forgiveness, which I would add to the list of characteristics of the resilient.
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I agree with Richard H. I have always been a fluke of the Universe, but I also believe that I am a terrific fluke. (Of course, I realize that a true ‘fluke’ is a barely edible fish, but it is a wonderful metaphor.)
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There was a time when my resiliency dropped through the floor – too much on top of too much almost did it for me – but out of the ashes this rubber ball rose again, maybe not with quite as much bounce but still willing to give life another go. I guess you just keep on keeping on. Yes, you need patience and forgiveness – a lot of it with and for yourself.
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For a fluke you turned out all right
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Me: What an amazing bunch of flukes we writers are. Hope everyone has an amazing flukin’ day!!
I am resilient–we all are, more than we think–but that does not mean it doesn’t take its toll. Like smoking, drinking and everything else, every chink in the armor is a little shaved off our lives, a little more strain on our cardiovascular system.
P.S. How do I get a photo next to my comments, so the image doesn’t look like a bowling pin?
John, regarding the photo next to comments: I think you have to be registered with Wordpress and have a profile photo. Anyway, that would be my guess.