ESSAY // The Unconquerable Soul
EXCERPT //
“[J]ournalist and editor Diane Coutu theorizes that there are three common characteristics of resilience. The first is a pragmatic view of the situation at hand. Overly optimistic attitudes can actually be detrimental in challenging situations. … Benchmarks not appropriate to the situation, whether internally or externally set, lead to disappointment; disappointment to heartbreak. Expectations should be grounded in reality.
The second characteristic is meaning. Is it your perception that an event is traumatic, or is it ‘an opportunity to learn and grow’? This was the distinction George Bonanno, a clinical psychologist at Columbia University’s Teachers College, made to Maria Konnikova in her article ‘How People Learn to Become Resilient’ for The New Yorker. He goes on to say, ‘To call something a “traumatic event” belies that fact.’ So he coined the term PTE, for ‘Potentially Traumatic Event,’ which he argues is more accurate. The meaning and story you create for yourself is important. An otherwise negative situation can be infused with hope and purpose by telling yourself a story about your challenges that incorporates the lessons that may have been learned, or that imagines a particular positive outcome.
The third quality that resilient people display is a unique ability to be improvisational. They develop creative, nontraditional ways to tackle problems with what is available.”
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