The First Place We Lose The Battle Is In Our Own Thinking

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“The first place we lose the battle is in our own thinking. If you think it’s permanent then it’s permanent. If you think you’ve reached your limits then you have. If you think you’ll never get well then you won’t. You have to change your thinking. You need to see everything that’s holding you back, every obstacle, every limitation as only temporary.”

Psychological resilience or a person’s ability to adapt to challenges and stress, is a trait that develops over time. Contrary to misconceptions, resilient people are not numb to pain but rather skilful in coping hardships. It is a considered a sign of high emotional quotient, according to psychologists.

Bonnie Bernand , the author of “Fostering Resiliency in Children”, believed resilience to be an inherent trait that everyone has the capacity to develop. Furthermore, she described the four attributes of resilient people as social competence, problem-solving skills, autonomy, and a sense of purpose and future.

A fine example of a resilient person is Theodore Roosevelt, American statesman and 26th president of the United States. Despite being a sickly child who could’ve died early in his life, he developed an extraordinary vigour for knowledge and exploration. Before he entered politics, he studied biology, trained in boxing and wrote a historical book. After the death of his mother and his wife at the same day, a blizzard destroyed his cattle ranch and left him with nothing. Like Lincoln, he too had lost in elections but persevered and ultimately became one of the greatest US presidents.

Interestingly, one needs failures to overcome failures. Research shows that failing a number of times challenges the brain to adapt and accept failures as something inevitable. These are considered the benefits of failures that strengthen resilience.

Former president Bill Clinton expressed his thoughts on resiliency in his quote: “If you voluntarily quit in the face of adversity, you’ll wonder about it for the rest of your life.”