Factors That Affect Resilience

Resilience, when asked to define and explain the act of being resilient, can be a hard thing to describe. It is something everyone must be at one point in their lives, and what some people must be every day. There are different levels to it, depending on what the person is going through at the time. However, resilience is commonly described as just staying strong in a tough situation or time in a person’s life. When something goes wrong, or something bad happens, the person affected doesn’t let it break them. They stand strong against whatever is being thrown at them, but they bend when they need to. Someone who is resilient is flexible, making sure they don’t crack under pressure. As Robert Jordan said in The Fires of Heaven, “The oak fought the wind and was broken, the willow bent when it must and survived.”

People have learned to be resilient in order to overcome serious hardships. A person’s resilience can be seen through how they handle bad experiences; to be resilient in the face of adversity. People who never give up and always fight back even when it gets hard are resilient. Some believe that resilience is a trait that can be learned.

Resilience is about how an individual deals, resists, recovers and learns from adversity’s in life. If a child is resilient they are less likely to be damaged as a result of negative experiences and are more likely to learn from and move on. In order for a child to be resilient they need to believe in themselves and have others they can rely on in their lives.

Resilience is about being independent, standing on your own two feet or taking back the power.

For some people the strong word resilience can impact one’s life in a significant way. Overall, resiliency is having the ability to still enjoy and continue your life with positive, good times, regardless of a hard past or bad experience. It can be shown in various ways throughout a text, including the setting, the plot, and characterization. This is how the texts, The Other Wes Moore, The Art of Resilience, and The Third and Final Continent share their common theme. This theme the three texts convey is that resiliency is vital for a positive as well as successful life.

Resilience is the power or the ability to return to the original form. “Resilience is born by grounding yourself in your own loveliness, hitting notes you thought were way out of your range” (94). Father Gregory Boyle says this because he knows that resilience is needed in order to change. Resilience is important because we can become better people by doing things, we thought we couldn’t do. In the book, Tattoos on the Heart, The Power of Boundless Compassion, by Father Gregory Boyle, resilience is essential in our lives because it is the key to do better.

Resilience is the ability to overcome struggles. In the book Night, Elie Wiesel is put into a concentration camp during the Holocaust. During his time there, Elie would not have been able to be so resilient without his father by his side. In Boys in The Boat, Joe Rantz would also have struggled to overcome his struggles without his dad. However, without Joe’s father treating him so badly throughout his childhood Joe might not have been so motivated to prove to his father that he was strong. In both books, Joe and Elie both demonstrate resilience by using their family to overcome their struggles.

Resilience is the power or the ability to return to the original form. “Resilience is born by grounding yourself in your own loveliness, hitting notes you thought were way out of your range” (94). Father Gregory Boyle says this because he knows that resilience is needed in order to change. Resilience is important because we can become better people by doing things, we thought we couldn’t do. In the book, Tattoos on the Heart, The Power of Boundless Compassion, Boyle claims resilience is essential in our lives because it is the key to do better.

There are varieties of definitions in regards with resilience based on different perspectives (Arrington et al., 2000). For instance, from a developmental perspective, resilience can be defined as positive and successful outcomes despite challenging situations (Masten, 2007; Windle, 2010). Resilience can also be defined as recovery to normal functioning from adversity or coping well under currently risk conditions (Masten, 2007; Windle, 2010). However, not every language has the word “resilience”. For example, a phrase, “the ability to cope with adversity” (Ungar et al.,

Resilience is the ability to bounce back from life’s daily challenges it’s about being strong and having the ability to respond positively to what life throws at us. We may find ourselves in many challenging and stressful situations throughout life however having the skills needed to cope and deal with them helps us have an effective response to all negative situations.

There are many example of myself having the ability of resiliency but there is one that had hanged over my head for many years. I was always the quit kid in school, but it all changed when I had tried out for the men's volleyball team. I wasn't the fasted kid or the most athletic, but I had some basic skills. This did not affect my team in a bad way but what did was being shy. The position I play in 9th grade was setter, a setter is the most important position in volleyball because they are the person that calls plays and tells player were to be so that they can have the best opportunity to win. Due to the fact that I was shy, I never said a word at practice, I could never voice my opinion and felt I wasn't fit to speak for the team. I lack

Family stress theory is a developmental theory borrowed from family science which explores why some family systems adapt and even grow and thrive when faced with situational stressors or transitional events, while other family units deteriorate and disintegrate under similar circumstances (Family Stress Theory, PPT). Murray was able to handle the stressors in her life because she had the resilience toward her ACEs (2010). Other youth may grow through these stressors because their family could become closer or the child has a trusted adult that can help them get through the stressors that they may face in their family. Some children however are not able to thrive because of the stressors and the family will weaken, unable to change, and a crisis will occur in the family making the family not capable of returning stability. This goes along with the theme of resilience because some families and youth can be resilient toward their family stressors, while others do not know how to be resilient and the youth and family become

My family understands me more than anyone else, and can best know how my own personality is affecting my problems. My mother and my uncle have seen me develop my entire life, and when I am going through my preparation for the future it’s no different. They are older than me and can offer perspective into how they best confronted the problems that I am similarly now facing. Their support has helped me as I’ve grown up, and they can continue by both rationally and emotionally connecting to my situations.

Max has a few risks in his life but he also has valuable resilience factors. Max’s risk factors include but are not limited to having a rotating shift at work with weekend hours. Not being able to have a steady schedule with little time for his family on the weekend can be a risk. Not being able to have any control in his work is another risk. Having a bad diet and smoking is a huge risk factor in Max’s life. Also, Max feeling like he is financially strain can be a risk factor in his life. Some of his resilience factors include having his wife as a good friend, being partners with your spouse is very important. A benefit to his resilience factor is that he exercises every day. Another resilience factor is having many friends and family members that Max can rely on. Having moral support from these friends and family member is crucial for resilience.

When I heard a term called resilience, I have no idea about it and think that it is not related to me. After I had a lecture with a topic resilience. I realize it is necessary and I need to face many adversity in my life. Also, I remember something happened in my past are shown my resilience level. I would like to share the story in my life to show the factors which are indicated in the last part can show resilience level.