Have you come across individuals who sail through the stresses and anxieties that are part of everyday life? They can handle crises and major issues with much ease. Chances are you might have seen such individuals in your family, friend circle, or at work. These are those who are more emotionally resilient, i.e. they have a higher degree of emotional resilience. As the name suggests, emotional resilience refers to the ability to adapt well to changes - both minor and major, stressful situations and crises. On the other hand, the less emotionally resilient individuals find it difficult to navigate through stressful situations. They also have a hard time adapting to any minor or major changes. They might also have a hard time dealing with a crisis.
Quite understandably, emotional resilience is a useful trait to have. It can not only ease up your everyday life, but it can also help you when faced with tough situations. Although emotional resilience is something all of us are born with, some have it to a higher degree than the rest. If you think you too need to build on it for its immense benefits, we have some tips for you that might help. But, first of all, let us see what emotional resilience looks like.
Are You Emotionally Resilient? Traits That Can Help You Identify
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Although all of us are born with some level of this trait, there are individuals more emotionally resilient than the rest. They might display the following traits, as per a leading health and wellness website:
- Emotionally Aware: The more emotionally resilient individuals are seen as more emotionally aware too. Not only do they know about their feelings better, but they are also better aware of how the other person might be feeling. Quite understandably, they can react according to that, hence, they can manage social situations better. It just doesn’t end here. Since they are more emotionally aware, they might be able to handle some of the powerful emotions, such as anger, frustration, and sadness, better.
- More In Control: Since emotionally resilient people are more emotionally aware, they also have better control over stressors and triggers that are there inside or around them. This might be the reason they can stay calm when faced with hardship. Also, they tend to have a more realistic view of the world around them and can seek solutions to the problem rather than stressing over the problem.
- Optimistic: Have you ever felt that people who are more resilient emotionally, tend to be optimistic. This means they can focus on the positives. This largely shapes how they react and respond to the situations.
- Laugh At Challenges: There are two ways to view a problem. You can see them as a threat or as a challenge. The emotionally resilient people tend to see the hardships as challenges and not as threats. This shapes how they react to it, whether they give their all to face the challenge or get defensive to evade the threat.
- Mistakes As Mistakes: Many of the problems we face in our lives are the result of the mistakes that we make. In such a situation, you can get into a defensive or denial mode, finding it hard to swallow that you made the mistake in the first place, Or, you can see mistakes as mistakes, and learn from them to not repeat them in the future. As per a leading health website, the more resilient tend to see mistakes as they are, learn from them, and hence, avert many of the hardships in the future.
So, these are some of the traits of emotional resilience.
How To Build Emotional Resilience?
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As you can understand easily, emotional resilience is a good trait to have and grow. Although it’s something you are born with, you can also always take steps to build it. And why not? It will only make your life smoother. Here are some of the tips that might help you to build emotional resilience:
- Build Bridges: Not quite literally. It means building on social interactions. Spend time building relationships and building on them. You can also join certain community groups, which might also help you become more emotionally resilient, a leading health website stated.
- Watch Your Thought: As you already know emotional resilience shapes to some degree how you react to stressful situations, hence watching your thoughts can help you build the same. Try to stay positive, look at hardships as challenges and not as threats, and whenever you feel overwhelmed, close your eyes and take a deep breath. Think about what is causing you the trouble, and addressing that might help you manage the situation better.
- Self-Care: Now this always helps. Many view self-care as a good way to manage stress and cope with any mental troubles they face. Hence, take some time out to engage in activities you enjoy, rest enough, and sleep well. Doing yoga and meditating always helps. Walk, dance, sing, listen to music, do anything that makes you happy.
So as you saw, emotional resilience as a trait can be helpful not just in daily life but also while facing major hardships. It has some traits that can help you identify it. Also, although emotional resilience is something all of us are born with, by taking certain steps you can always build it.
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