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Resilience: Adjusting your sails in times of a world-wide pandemic!

Resilience is a dynamic, evolving process, during this process, you identify yourself, you grow, you gain confidence, you dream bigger, you inspire others, you tap into your strengths and you improve yourself. As Ann Masten says “Resilience is ordinary magic…” Individuals all over the world have the ability to tap into their ‘magic’ and make use of their strengths, assets and resources. Now, more than ever, we need to build ourselves, support each other and maximize our strengths  in order to emerge as a resilient nation so that we can fight obstacles and fear, and in doing so, we can flourish.

28. June 2020

Tasleem Hassim
Boat into the sunset
unsplash

It’s June 2020, and life feels somewhat unusual. The novel coronavirus has dominated social media and social conversations. COVID-19 is the reason that Schools have lost their smiles; graduates have missed their moment on stage, and mothers have now taken upon multiple roles. Through this pandemic, we have witnessed many individuals losing their jobs, families begging for food, and many businesses on the verge of permanent closure. Also, we have seen racial crimes, the killing of innocent children, and an increase in domestic violence. Our vision of 2020 was nothing as to what we are experiencing and witnessing right now. Through this crisis, some might have lost their purpose, energy, and drive, and some have lost their lives.

The health, financial, social, and mental implications of the response to COVID-19 are likely to have far-reaching effects globally lasting for years to come. During a national state of disaster, there is no formula or operating manual in terms of how to cope with the current global pandemic.

COVID-19 has brought upon much uncertainty, fear, anxiousness, and negativity across the world. But it has also brought people closer, and it has brought kindness out of individuals. This crisis made us aware of our strengths and capabilities, and perhaps we will emerge as a more energetic, resilient nation once this is over.

This pandemic creates an opportunity for us to tap into our assets and build our resilience. Individuals globally are experiencing severe stress that may impact their well being, or it can provide an opportunity to flourish. A resilient person has the capacity to make use of their internal and external resources in order to adapt, accept, and achieve.

In order to build resilience, one needs to first have a sense of self-awareness, which is the ability to take cognizance of your thoughts, feelings, behavior, attitude, and values. By doing so, you are in touch with your internal strengths and resources. Secondly, one needs to take care of themselves; self-care is a mindful practice that one engages in daily to refresh the mind and rejuvenate oneself. Paying attention to psychological stress and physical health is a step closer to self-care. When we deprive our emotional,  mental, and physical health, our immune system cannot function optimally. In order to practice and maintain self-care, one needs to focus on all the dimensions; physical, spiritual, mental, work, and social relationships. Lastly, we need to create a positive mindset while practicing mindfulness. During this time of a global pandemic, anxiety, stress, and uncertainty of the future bring upon many disturbing thoughts. A negative mind will not add value during this time of chaos (and calm). Now more than ever, it’s essential to practice positive reframing.

A recent statement that was trending on social media recently, which said that ‘We might be in the same storm with the lockdown and COVID-19, but our boats are not all the same’. What do you carry in your boat? Is your boat full of negativity, apprehension, and fear? Or is your boat filled with assets, resources, a positive mindset, and self-awareness? Our boats depend primarily on our thoughts, and our thoughts impact our emotions and behavior. We have to adjust the sails of our boats to flourish and surface as a resilient nation.