Emotional Resilience

Regardless of gender, we are all emotional creatures. Emotions drive our behaviours – we are motivated and activated by emotions. 

Emotional resilience involves the capacity to recognise and manage your feelings as well as related behaviours, including the realistic assessment of your limitations and ability to cope effectively with stress. With a higher degree of emotional resilience, you are better able to calmly handle the stresses that come with daily life without being overwhelmed or paralysed. 

Emotional wellness is achieved when you are aware of, and accept a wide array of emotions and feelings, and are able to make decisions influenced by an evaluation of current emotions. An emotionally well person realises that ‘happiness’ is not the only desired emotion in life. Growth and emotional maturity develop when you experience and accept a wide variety of emotions: happiness, anger, sadness, determination, frustration and many more.

We cannot avoid disappointment, grief or distress. However, with emotional resilience, we can go through these experiences more successfully. Cultivate your emotional resilience by:

• Understanding your limitations and be confident in your unique abilities
• Managing your thoughts: Work on maintaining a positive outlook and accept that change and setbacks are part of life. The important thing is to keep working toward your goals.
• Building connections with others: Engage in satisfying relationships based on mutual trust and respect.
• Coping with stress effectively
• Taking care of yourself: Sometimes you can be your own worst critic. Extend the same kindness that you extend to others to yourself. Take care of your mind and body. Eat well, stay physically active and avoid unhealthy coping mechanisms.