Weekly Wellbeing
Resilience
“We are positive. We show empathy. We are grateful. We persevere!” – Croydon Hills Primary School
This week I did some reflecting on resilience. After these past two years, now feels like great timing to be thinking about and discussing resilience. I know that nationally and globally these last years have been more jam-packed with adversity than ever before. Between the lockdowns, COVID concerns, bush fires, an earthquake, political conflicts, power outages, and everything else, we have been through a lot. For those of us who have had extra stressors on top of all that, I am with you, and I feel it. Personally, I have been through family members illnesses, moving countries, culture shock, moving house multiple times, changes in work, family members moving away, close friends moving around and away, and financial stress, just to name a few. Life can build and shift in so many directions, and being able to remain positive, show empathy, being grateful and persevering through all of it, ups and downs and in-betweens, it’s challenging to say the least. But the good news is we are not in this alone.
As I was doing some reflecting and research on resilience, I came across the Seven Cs of Resilience. The 7 Cs are confidence, competence, connection, character, contribution, coping and control. Each of these traits is not just related to how we interact with adversity or the aftermath of adversity in life, these traits can be taught and presented at any age, in any person anywhere in the world, in any circumstance of life.
As we have just been through a great deal of adversity, I have noticed there are people commenting that a culture of resilience will likely come, in this assuming that it is a natural progression. There may be some truth to this, humans often do look at their needs and do what they can to meet them, but strong resilience is not necessarily going to happen naturally, resilience still requires effort and support to grow.
If you watch ‘The Seven Cs of Resilience’ video you will learn, resilience will not come from adversity alone. We must have a mindset equipped with resilience, so no matter what we deal with, including any amount of adversity, we can remain positive, confident, and strong. This strong, secure character comes from a place of belonging and connection and is rooted in these seven Cs of resilience.
If you watch the ‘Brains: Journey to Resilience’ video, you will learn that resilience is something that we develop and grow in it through time and with practice and support.
Taking a step back, recognising this and understanding the root of resilience, will help us to embody the character strength of resilience. Embodying resilience helps us to teach others (especially children) how to be resilient individuals. T eaching others about resilience helps embed resilience into our culture. Having resilience present in our culture will lead to a resilient community.
“You’re braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think.” - Winnie the Pooh
Informative Videos on Resilience:
Cheyenne Mason, on behalf of the Wellbeing Team