Resilient: Capacity to recover from difficulties or tough times

The word and the definition of resilient fit perfectly to parenting. Whether it be giving birth or handling the challenges during the first few years of parenting, resilience is always there. We don’t have to provide examples of mom going through tough labor and still holding a tired yet wide smile when she sees her baby for the first time. Or despite continuous challenges, parents feel proud and happy on every milestone of their kids. Examples are numerous. We all have experienced such moments and still experience them now and then. But today, in the new normal, we are unfolding a new dimension and meaning of this word “resilient”. We are learning to stay positive, stay together, holding on to the yester memories, and creating some new memories too. We teach our kids to face tough situations boldly, we tell them not to lose hope even in toughest of the times, we tell them to count our blessings, and we teach them to practice resilience. But quite often we forget these pointers. Whatever we have taught them about being resilient or, for that matter, we keep telling ourselves to handle situations strongly may not have shown its presence before covid19.

We were happy, we were free, and when talking about kids, then they might not have faced many such occasions where they need to keep their spirits high. But the last few months have made each one of us stronger, more thankful, and more resilient. We have started to see the positive sides of staying positive.  🙂 Today, when we watch news about families who have lost their dear ones or who are not able to meet their dear ones, or who are hardly meeting their basic needs, we see at ourselves and think how lucky we are. We are with our family; we are safe inside our nest. I feel, if we can handle this time, then we are ready to face anything.

“When we learn how to become resilient, we learn how to embrace the beautiful broad spectrum of the human experience.”

Kids have shown a high level of maturity. They have accepted the new normal. Isn’t this awesome? Kudos to all of them and to all of us for staying strong and passing those vibes in our surroundings.

The definition of resilient still remains the same.

Resilience enables kids (and their parents) to:
• Bounce: recover from challenges and stressful situations
• Grow: learn new skills and look after ourselves
• Connect: build strong relationships and understand others
• Flow: the ability to focus and get into ‘the zone’, whether creatively, in sports or play
This is a challenge that will undoubtedly affect their academic, cognitive, behavioral, and physical progress.

Without a doubt, there will be children of all ages, backgrounds, and abilities who will feel physically and emotionally isolated, who may lose a sense of identity and belonging, and who may wilt without school structure and without the opportunity to see their friends.

Crucially, without a definite timeframe of when all this will end and with an uncertainty of what society will look like once the life gets back to normal, the challenge to mental health for all of us is clear. In this tough time, we have to keep our spirits high, try to follow the four pointers that I have mentioned above.

If you like to know about resilience in detail then check out the podcast episode where I have discussed it in depth.