The Importance and Benefits of Emotional Resilience

Setbacks and misfortunes are a part of life. When those challenges come, the question is whether you can weather the storm, or if it’ll make you fall apart; whether you have emotional resilience or not. There is no shortage of challenges in life such as losing your job or home, going through a bad breakup, the death of a loved one, or receiving an unfavorable medical diagnosis. The key to facing these and other situations well is whether you are resilient.

Understanding resilience

Being a resilient person doesn’t mean that you don’t feel the pressure of a difficult situation. When hardship hits, a resilient person struggles with it as much as the next person, but the difference is that a resilient person is capable of bouncing back from that adversity. It doesn’t immobilize them, and they can change gears, find healing, and keep moving forward.

One way to define resilience is the way the American Psychological Association does, as “the process and outcome of successfully adapting to difficult or challenging life experiences, especially through mental, emotional, and behavioral flexibility.” A resilient person is flexible and adaptable, and they can successfully meet any situation head-on.

Some people are naturally resilient. This doesn’t mean that if you’re not resilient already you can’t become more resilient. It’s possible to learn how to be more resilient. Resilience is a trait that can be nurtured, and you can do this by leaning into practices that help you to not only adapt but thrive when you’re faced with a difficult situation. Some of the practices and skills you can nurture to this end include the following:

Practicing gratitude

Being able to give thanks in all circumstances (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18) helps you to face various situations with a healthy attitude.

Developing a growth mindset

When you look at challenges and setbacks as opportunities to grow and learn instead of obstacles that can’t be overcome, you develop resilience. A mindset of curiosity, the willingness to embrace challenges, and maintaining hope help cultivate resilience.

Being optimistic

Optimistic people tend to be healthier than pessimistic people, mentally, emotionally, and physically. Optimism isn’t about ignoring unpleasant things, but it is about training your focus on your accomplishments, strengths, and gifts. Such a focus will help you weather difficult seasons in life.

Abandoning regrets

Holding onto the past, especially your regrets, makes it hard to move on or face present challenges. Acknowledge any past mistakes or regrets, learn whatever you can from it, and keep moving forward. Looking to the future and working toward that is one more way to build resilience.

Nurture social support

Having people around you who support you when you’re going through a hard time can help you manage. Reach out for help from your loved ones or community when you need it, whether what you need is emotional or practical support.

Resilience can be learned by nurturing these skills and practicing the habits outlined above.

The benefits of emotional resilience

Doing little things like learning how to laugh and injecting humor into your life can help reduce stress. Difficult situations will come in life, and change is inevitable. Facing changes, especially difficult changes, requires one to be adaptable and flexible. Cultivating optimism, a growth mindset, and positivity makes a huge difference in becoming more resilient. Whatever challenges you’re facing are temporary, and they can be overcome.

For the believer, there are many encouragements to persevere and remain steadfast when hardship comes. For instance, “I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us” (Romans 8:18, NIV), or later, “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?… No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us” (Romans 8:35,37, NIV).

There are many benefits to having emotional resilience, and these include not engaging in high-risk behaviors to cope with difficulties. When a person is going through hardship, they can turn to behaviors such as excessive alcohol or substance use, gambling, overeating, and engaging in physically dangerous situations to cope. When a person is resilient, they are less likely to do this, as they are better able to cope with and handle difficult situations and emotions.

Being resilient can help you reduce the tendency to ruminate on negative events and thoughts, which reduces the impact of mental health conditions such as depression and anxiety. When a resilient person experiences trauma or negative events such as being bullied that increase the risk of mental health conditions, they can cope better.

Having emotional resilience allows you to increase your ability to survive difficult changes and thrive despite hardship. With support and help from a counselor, you can cultivate emotional resilience.

Your counselor in Santa Monica, California can help you identify ways you’ve cultivated resilience in the past through healthy choices, as well as ways you could do the same now. Your counselor can also help you learn coping methods to build resilience. Call our office at Santa Monica Christian Counseling in California to set up an appointment today.