Adversity Vs. Tragedy and Perseverance vs. Resilience
Today I was talking with my son about the difference between adversity vs. tragedy and perseverance vs. resilience. The conversation was in the context of the results of his wrestling matches this morning. This weekend he is competing at the National Middle School Duals in Toledo, OH.
To sum up our conversation, I was explaining to him that he was facing adversity not tragedy today. Losing a wrestling match or being down by several points at the end of a match is adverse but not tragic. Battling against tragedy would require something far worse happening. For example, finding out a loved one is terminally ill or having your house burn down.
In addition, I made the point to him that he needs perseverance to battle against adversity and resilience to battle against tragedy. Perseverance is uniquely about the ability to maintain motivation and persistence under difficult circumstances. Resilience is more about bouncing back when something bad happens. Perseverance is about how you react to the circumstances in the present moment. Resilience is more about how you react to the circumstances that already happened.
Being able to show perseverance and resilience are both critical character traits to develop with intention. However, it’s important to know that just because you develop one trait, doesn’t mean they you have also developed the other trait.