For years, researchers have studied the ability of humans to withstand sometimes unspeakable horrors and somehow turn the negative into positive outcomes. This concept, termed 'resilience,' represents human's incredible capacity to bounce back and move on when faced with adverse consequences. Resilience theory gained prominence in the psychological community after seeing a pattern within some individuals who had experienced life-changing events, yet managed to give them a positive spin. This was repeatedly witnessed in Holocaust survivors, POW's and victims of war who not only survived, but prospered after these events. This was in direct contrast to classic thinking that suggested that the repercussions of negative events would be manifested negatively throughout one's life.
Resilient people demonstrate certain traits.
They are generally able to remain realistically optimistic in the face of pessimism, find the positive in the negative, use the crisis to grow and stretch themselves personally in directions they may not have been before and display a sense of gratitude about even the simple things in their lives. These and many more questions will face us in the near future. Let's pray that we can use this experience to grow stronger as individuals and a nation, to be resilient in the face of adversity and prosper from tragedy. Her firm, Empower Communications, provides services to individuals and corporations to help maximize their effectiveness in the changing marketplace.