Building Resiliency

How you react in the face of adversity, trauma, tragedy, or stress is a skill known as resilience. Resilience is not a trait that people either have or do not have, rather it involves behaviors, thoughts, and actions that can be learned and developed in anyone. Developing resilience is a personal journey. People do not all react the same to traumatic and stressful life events so an approach to building resilience for one person might not work for another. Below are some tips that can help you start building your resilience today.

Find Meaning in Adversity

At some point in our lives, everyone will face adversity. Instead of focusing on the bad that has happened to you, try to figure out why it happened or what the lesson from it could be. This will help you move forward more positively from the situation.

Build a Community of Support

Good relationships with close family members, friends or others are important. Accepting help and support from those who care about you and will listen to you strengthens resilience. Some people find that being active in civic groups, faith-based organizations, or other local groups provides social support and can help with reclaiming hope. Assisting others in their time of need also can benefit the helper.

Be Hopeful

Hope is a choice. An optimistic outlook enables you to expect that good things will happen in your life. Try visualizing what you want, rather than worrying about what you fear.

Focus on Gratitude

Keeping a gratitude journal is a great way to train yourself to start seeing the glass half full. Every day write down a few things you are grateful for. Overtime it will get easier and easier to think of things you are grateful for and your list will begin to grow.

Accept Change

Change is a part of life and, for some of us, it is hard to endure. Accepting circumstances that cannot be changed can help you focus on circumstances that you can alter.

Kailey Kocourek, Project Coordinator for The Kim Foundation,

Kailey Kocourek joined The Kim Foundation in July 2018 as the Project Coordinator. She received her Bachelor’s Degree from UNO in Public Health and is currently working towards her Master’s in Public Health from UNMC, expecting to graduate in May 2019. She was drawn to the non-profit world because of her passion for helping and educating others. In her spare time, she enjoys baking and spending time with her husband, Ethan, and two children, Kaiden and Emry.