Collective Resilience

Expand your resilience by joining or establishing communities.

There is real power in numbers.

Resilience can be improved from providing support whenever able or from receiving it whenever needed. 

Established communities allow for the transfer and development of resilience. Collectively we are stronger.

I write primarily about individual resilience and the power of intentional stress to develop it. Resilience, however, is rarely possible without help. Every adult was once a child that received some form of assistance to survive. Objectively and subjectively, support from others encourages success. Confidence can be drawn from experience, but it can also come from knowing something or someone has your back.

Simply knowing you have support can boost resilience. This belief, however, can only be effective when your particular resources have already proven to be credible.

Self-awareness is imperative for managing stress and overcoming adversity. Individually, you can’t respond to adversity or practice resilience if you aren’t conscious of your stress response. It is therefore equally important to know when you aren’t adequately managing stress so you can seek support. True strength is knowing your limits and being able to recognize when help is needed. Time and severity of mental or physical performance decrements provide insight into appropriate intervention. Burnout, the popular term for chronic mismanagement of stress, occurs to those unaware of or unwilling to seek help. If you aren’t responding well individually, it’s time to utilize your support systems.

Who are your people? What are your resources? Where do you draw your power from?