Like the central character in the 1993 movie Groundhog Day, have you found yourself these past few weeks feeling like you are stuck in a time warp. Namely, you’re experiencing feelings about the current environment that you may have felt before. If so, these feelings can be overwhelming and cause us to experience a sense of defeat and paralysis. We may even feel like we have no control of what is happening.
Whatever your situation, it is even more important now to stop and decide what you are going to take control over. Now is the time to stay the course once again or begin the course of developing a resilient mindset, the ability to bounce back when things do not go the way that you expected. While there is a wealth of knowledge about this concept, we suggest that there are four key components to developing resilience. These four components are meaning, connection, wellness, and healthy thinking. Like with any strength-based concept, the development of resilience takes time and resolve to master. How we nurture each of these components is highly individualized.
Like Phil Sommers, the central character in Groundhog Day, let’s choose, with a sense of determination and intentionality, to build our ability to bounce back. With this in mind, we offer some lifestyle ideas that can enhance resiliency and we welcome the opportunity to hear from you about activities that you are doing to develop a resilient life.
Some healthy coping skills for our body:
Get Enough Sleep.
Move Naturally.
Avoid Tobacco and Drugs.
Limit Alcohol Consumption.
Limit Screen Time.
Relax.
Recharge.
Some healthy coping skills for our mind:
Keep your Routine Regular.
Limit Exposure to News Media.
Focus on Positive Thoughts and Occurrences.
Engage your Spiritual Life for Ongoing Support.
Establish Priorities.
Additional coping skills to develop:
Refine your Purpose and Meaning of Living.
Develop a Healthier Diet.
Find and develop a Sense of Community with Others.
Stay Close with Family.
Spend Quiet Time with a Baby and Enter their World of Wonderment.
Key Takeaways
Life has a way of repeating itself.
We can control the way we react to a situation.
Practicing resilient activities will strengthen our sense of control.
Best Practices
Start or update your resilient plan of action.
Make changes one at a time.
Personalize your plan of action.
Things to Limit
Throwing in the towel.
Thinking you can’t make the needed changes.
Seeing yourself as not salvageable.
Quote of the Week
“Our main task is… embracing the idea that things will change at scales and speeds that render a vast swath of previous experience/expertise outdated, without a period of transition.”
~Alex Steffens
Francis was a Professor of Psychology for many years. During his tenure in the classroom, he would require students, who were planning to become future counselors and therapists, to study the work Mans Search for Meaning by Dr. ViKtor Frankel, the founder of logotherapy and a Holocaust survivor. One of the quotes from this book that has had an enormous impact on Francis’s life is, “in the midst of the horrors of the Holocaust we need to face our fate without flinching.” With these words Dr.Frankel is offering an example of a core belied of his, that the search for life meaning is a central human motivational factor. By choosing to practice and embrace a resilient mindset, we are choosing to live as rich a life as possible. While we can not control many of the happenings within the world, we have enormous impact on our view, reaction, and mindset about them.
Interested in more of our Resilience programs for individuals and organizations, please check out our website at www.battistimanagement.com or call us at 607 2225768.
Be well,
The paraDocs
Check our Welcome Greeting on YouTube
The paraDocs are Dr. Francis L. Battisti, PhD, Psychotherapist, Distinguished Psychology Professor and former Executive V.P and Chief Academic Officer and Dr. Helen E. Battisti PhD, RDN, CDN, Chief Nutrition Officer, at SpNOD, Health Promotion Specialist, Research and Clinical Registered Dietitian Nutritionist and former Assistant Professor.
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