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Resiliency helping people through tough times

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http://www.westsideconnect.com/content/view/1960/166/

Written by JULIE ROSE
Monday, February 16, 2009
I have had a word stuck in my head lately...resilience...what does it mean? Where does it come from? I know it’s the ability to bounce back after something has gotten us down, something in us that allows us to keep on going even when life has thrown us a curve ball and the option is to give up. But where does it come from? How is it that some people seem to have it and some don’t? How does one develop it, what needs to be in place in our lives so we are able to bounce back when the challenging times come our way?

One element I have discovered is a strong support system of people in our lives. The other is faith.

I found these two elements to be key factors when speaking with local business owners recently about the economy and the struggles they are experiencing. The same held true with community members who face personal challenges and yet keep their spirits high.

The common thread between them? Not feeling alone, having strong relationships with others and a faith that is grounded in hope.

Hope or despair, these are the options during tough times, but how does one remain hopeful when it seems like all is lost?

When keeping a positive attitude is difficult to do, that’s when the support of others comes in...having someone in our lives to tell us it’s going to be okay.

Could be a spouse, a family member, a good friend, a co-worker, a counselor, a neighbor...our support systems vary but never-the-less are vital to our ability to cope with life’s struggles.

And when we are feeling the most vulnerable, when hardships, tragedies and illnesses are working to pull us down, it is these times it is important to have someone we can depend on to hang onto us and help us climb back up that well we seemed to have fallen in to.

That’s where resiliency comes in, the ability to bounce back. I don’t think it’s something we do alone. I think it comes from humbling ourselves to accept help and inspiration from others when we most need it. I think it comes out when we are at the edge and the choice is before us to choose either hope or despair. Like the owners of Chilitos in Gustine shared with me recently, “If we come in each day with our heads down and feeling like we’re going to lose our business, then we will,”instead they come into work each day ready to work, ready to handle whatever the day brings, they know they can rely on each other that no matter what happens, it will be okay, together they will be fine.

That was the common attitude I discovered talking to business owners on the West Side. No doom and gloom, as would be rightly justified, but instead an inspiring resilient attitude, accepting the situation as it is, making tough decisions that involve many people’s lives and livelihoods yet, able to hang on to a smile and not losing hope.

I think it is common knowledge that interaction with other people is important for us to live healthy lives but even more so now, during these particularly tough times when so much around us seems to be falling apart, life as we knew it seems to be changing every day....it is important that we continue to reach out to one another, that we offer our help and support to one another and make sure that when we are feeling alone and that feeling of despair threatens to take us over, that we recognize that and ask for help. Building resiliency skills is important, even more so, right now.

howdy folks