The Mindfulness Blog

Resilience is a lot more than just a word. It's not some pollyannish idea that can be equated with blind optimism. It's more than sheer determination. Resilience is a state of mind that some of us are born with, and it's a skill that others of us can actually learn.

As a couple of my favorite Saturday Night Live television characters, Hans and Franz, put it so eloquently, "Hear me now, and listen to me later". Resilience can be taught, and learned-- truth! Check out the Mayo Clinic website, or refer to the US Army's Master Resilience Training materials.

Mayo Clinic staff recommend a number of very practical things that can boost one's resilience: 1) Get connected; 2) Make every day meaningful; 3) Learn from experience; 4) Remain hopeful; 5) Take care of yourself; and 6) Be proactive. More details are available, online.

US Army Master Resilience Training focuses on: 1) Developing an optimistic outlook for the future; 2) Developing solid goals, as well as the desire to accomplish; 3) Developing compassion and empathy; and 4) Developing our focus on what we can control, and what we can't. More specifics are available on the website.

When I started this post, I believed that resilience could be a learned behavior-- after undertaking  bit of research, however, I now know that is the case. "Hunting the good stuff" and "detecting icebergs" are only two of the resilience skills that can be learned, and if you don't think that's real, you're just not paying attention.

Talk about a silver lining! Learning and living resiliently is the legacy of the COVID pandemic. And it can be learned. It can be taught-- it can be assimilated and applied to "real life", just like mindfulness and meditation (you knew I'd somehow sneak that into the conversation).

Resilience. Mindfulness. Meditation. I'm thinking about the connection-- aware of the connection-- maybe you could be, too?