Resilience: A Nuanced Topic

Resilience is a concept that we are very likely to encounter in the journey of caregiving. We often hear it slip into our conversations that more directly address the challenges and obstacles associated with our role as caregivers. But what is resilience? Are we all capable of recognizing ourselves as resilient individuals? How does this process take shape in everyday life?

Indeed, often discussed and too little understood, resilience is the result of a process unique to each individual. It is defined as the ability of a person to bounce back, to recover from a difficult life event. This process therefore includes several nuances that we believe are important to raise to provide you with a complete understanding of what resilience is.

It is an integral and inclusive process

Resilience never rejects/minimizes an injury. It fully acknowledges it and leans towards its repair by transforming it in respect of the natural healing pace of each individual. Thus, it is the changing perception of the event that allows its symbolic integration.

It is accessible to everyone

Resilience is not an innate quality reserved for only a few people. In fact, it is cultivated depending on the context, as each trial does not affect everyone in the same way. Each path of recovery is unique to each person. In other words, we all hold this healing power. There are no rigid criteria to recognize oneself as resilient, meaning it is not necessary to have experienced a grand traumatic event to demonstrate resilience. Every challenge is a fertile ground where resilience can be cultivated.

It is not part of a performance discourse

Being resilient does not mean overcoming challenges easily without effort. Thus, resilience is not measured by the degree of difficulty of a challenge; it accompanies us unconditionally throughout the process.

It values self-awareness

It is important to learn to know oneself well, as this introspection subsequently allows us to identify our strengths and consequently rely on them when difficult situations arise. In terms of resilience, it is more helpful to have self-awareness than to be an expert in a domain.

It situates the challenge in time

It is important to recognize challenges as temporary events and not as integral parts of our identity. When we manage to position a challenge in time, it can be more accessible to see it as an event with a beginning and an end. This awareness of the impermanence of the challenge is necessary to give us the space to catch our breath in the face of the situation.