Interesting post from Liz with a link to Krista Tippett’s radio show, “On Being”. The writer has not had time to listen to that yet – and was caught by Liz’s summary of the characteristics Andrew Zolli describes as making for resilience. It feels like a key question. We all face adverse events and circumstances. What allows one person to adjust and grow, while another sinks?
Here’s a quote from Liz’s post:-
‘”People who are psychologically hardy, it turns out, believe very prevalently some things about the world. So, if you believe that the world is a meaningful place, if you see yourself as having agency within that world, and if you see successes and failures as being placed in your path to teach you things…then you are more likely to be psychologically hardy, and therefore more resilient in the face of trauma.”
Without a sense of encompassing meaning, Zolli says, people just fold in on themselves and collapse when suffering hits.
Without meaning, we’re screwed.’
That seems accurate – and raises the question, how do we create meaning for ourselves?
‘It seems, then, that we need to work hard to cultivate meaning in our lives — even in ADVANCE of difficulties, so that we can have some sort of spiritual/ethical/psychological framework in order to handle future crises……
…….Zolli notes that resilient people (the “psychologically hardy”) seem to be those who have built a loving community around them, for the free exchange of support and encouragement.’
Here’s the link to Andrew Zolli’s book, which sounds worth a read:-
And here’s the radio show link:-
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