It’s Important to Remember that Resilience is a Team Sport
If you read my blog enough, you will quickly see that I find the topic of building resilience extremely fascinating. My interest in the topic started when my oldest son started on his youth wrestling journey back in 2012. Wrestling is one of the few sports that requires athletes to learn how to lose before they can win anything meaningful. This characteristic of the sport, among others, makes youth wrestling the perfect sport for raising resilient children.
What’s more, learning how to lose in order to learn how to win is not something anyone can do on their own. Developing this ability to bounce back stronger after failure is a team sport. As the American Psychological Association puts it, resilience requires you to build connections “with empathetic and understanding people” who remind you that you’re not “alone in the midst of difficulties“.
In the case of resilience, it’s not cliché to say the more the merrier.
Research shows that 90% of individuals will experience some sort of trauma in their lifetime. You don’t have to be a gambler to know this means both you and me likely will fall into this 90%. The best thing you can do right now to prepare is to build your support team around you before you need it. Furthermore, one of the best ways to do this is to find other people in your circle of friends, family, and community to support in their time of need.
Don’t let someone you know face adversity alone. Go out of your way to help someone bounce back stronger and pay resilience forward. Simply stated, being a good team member for someone else is the best way to be on a good team.