Merriam-Webster defines resilience as "the ability to recover from or adjust easily to misfortune or change.” Resilience is defined by the American Psychology Association as “the process of adapting well in the face of adversity, trauma, tragedy, threats or significant sources of stress”. When I think of resilience my mind fills with background music from Eye of the Tiger and begins quoting Sylvester Stallone from Rocky - (no, not “yo Adrian!” although that may be the most popular line):
“Going in one more round when you don’t think you can – that’s what makes all the difference in your life.”
However you define it, resilience is an important life skill that enables us to navigate the “tough stuff” life throws at us. Resilience provides us with a mindset of “we are more than our mistakes, we can do hard things, failure is just learning in disguise, and there is nothing so big that we can’t overcome it”. Resilience increases our success with relationships, school, work, and competitive sports. One of the most important roles we have as adults in the lives of children and teens is to help them develop resiliency.
How do we develop resiliency?
In his book, Building Resilience in Children and Teens, Dr. Ginsburg discusses the 7 C’s of resiliency (confidence, competence, connection, character, contribution, coping, and control) and how we as adults can assist children with developing this life skill.
The Student Services Department will explore these 7 C’s through a podcast this spring called “Royal-ly Resilient”. The podcast will run weekly on Thursdays from April 2 through May 21. During these 8 weeks, we will be talking about the 7 C’s of resiliency, highlighting how each C is critical in building resiliency in children.
Let’s get real -- Stress is part of our daily life. Stress can be an important tool as we navigate our life journey; it is important to be equipped to work within stress instead of letting it control our emotional state and response. Each day from the early childhood years through adolescence, children encounter situations that evoke stress. It is the nature of parents to want to protect children from experiencing feelings of disappointment, failure, and setbacks.
It’s possible that while protecting them, we may be eliminating opportunities for them to develop skills such as competence and confidence. Dr. Ginsburg provides strategies for parents to balance “getting out of the way” by allowing children to have increased independence and control while “staying connected” by being a safe person who will always be there and love them unconditionally.
I hope you will join us in a community read of Building Resilience in Children and Teens, by Dr. Ginsburg and tune in to hear us discuss this book with our mental health staff and other guests. You can enter to win a copy of this book at https://tinyurl.com/hbrbook.
Dr. Jessica Sonntag
Director of Student Services
Hinckley-Big Rock CUSD #429