ResiliencE

1. ResiliencE THE art OF BOUNCING BACK TO LIFE

2. Why is it that some persons facing adverse conditions manage to survive and to react in a positive and harmonious manner, while all predict a negative development?

3. For some years now this phenomenon has been a subject of great interest and has given rise to the theory of Resilience.

4. The concept was first used in Physics and it was Michael Rutter who coined it in the year 1972 for social sciences. Early studies on resilience focused on persons who had lived through limit situations. Those who resisted and moved on without “throwing in the towel” were called resilient persons. “tirar la toalla” eran las llamadas resilientes

5. Resilience does not mean invulnerability;these persons suffer like anyone else,

6. what makes them different is their capacity to have an adequate quality of life despite all their painful experiencies.

7. “Each person shines with his/her own light among all the rest. No two fires are alike. There are big fires, small fires and fires of all colors .

8. There are persons who are a serene fire who do not realize that the wind is blowing, and persons who are a crazy fire, who fills the air with sparks. Some fires are like stupid fires; they neither illumine nor burn; but others burn so intensely that one cannot look at them without blinking and whoever gets close to them gets inflamed”. (Eduardo Galeano)

9. In this story we can read about two aspects of the theory of resilience: The first has to do with the idea of brightness, the second with the idea of diversity, of difference.

10. Resilience is built on the bright side of the human being, on one’s strengths, assuming the potential that each individualhas to develop him/herself.

11. It takes on meaning from the difference in the reaction to adverse circumstances, which generate stress.

12. While some persons succumb to such circumstances, showing imbalance and disorder at various levels, others develop successfully in spite of adversity.

13. What then is Resilience?

14. The term “resilience" has its origin in the Latin word “resilio", which means to return, to spring back, to bounce back. The term was adapted to Social Sciences in order to characterize individuals who, in spite of being born and living in situations marked by adversity, they develop into psychologically healthy and successful persons.

15. “It is the universal human capacity to cope with life’s adversities, to overcome them or even to be transformed by them. It is part of the evolutionary process and it has to be promoted from childhood”(Grotberg, 1995).

16. Resilience is not only a phenomenon we observe at the individual level, but we can also speak of resilient families, groups and communities with resilient characteristics.

17. Therefore it is defined as “the capacity of an individual or of a social system to live well and to develop in a positive way, in spite of the difficult living conditions and, even more, the capacity to be strengthened and to be transformed by them”.(Helena Combarías)

18. Resilience implies: resistance to adversities,to remain whole when faced with great demands and pressures.

19. The capacity to overcome difficulties, to learn from defeat and to creatively rebuild oneself, transforming negative aspects into new opportunities and advantages.

20. It is not a fixed, final and finished state; it is a process, a journey which can be told as a life story, built over time, in history.

21. It is not built alone, but through the strong bonds of love which have been interwoven over a lifetime. According to Boris Cyrulnik, it is “to knit” together resilience.

22. The resilient person is one who is able to establish constructive social relacionships, has a positive sense of self, faces problems as they are, has a sense of hope in the face of difficulties, is able to draw meaning from stressful situations, develops initiative and sets attainable goals.(Saavedra, E. 2004).

23. Internal factores which act as protectors: • Service to others or to a cause • Strategies for living together, assertiveness, control of one’s impulses • Sociability, ability to create bonds and intimacy with others, sense of humor • Inner control in dealing with problems • Self-confidence, autonomy, flexibility • Capacity to learn and to connect what one has learned with previous learning. • Capacity to question oneself and to give an honest answer, in order to motivate oneself.

24. Factors which support and foster resilient characteristics : • A warm environment which promotes bonding and supportive relationships • Promotion of social values and strategies for living together • Clear limits • Sharing of responsibilities • Expressing positive and realistic expectations • Promoting the attainment of goals. • Clear and positive leadership • Appreciation of specific talents of each person.

25. The meaning given to resilience in human and social sciences is also considered in natural sciences as:

26. “The extent to which a system recovers or returns to its previous state, in the face of an action by an external agent”

27. That is: “The capacity for response that the natural ecosystems can have in the face of certain changes caused by external factors”.

28. Weknow of theseriousenvironmentalimplicationsthattheconventionaldevelopmentmodelshad, basedoneconomicgrowthindicators and, as a result, theyhavemadeanimpactonthe so-calledenvironmental and energy crisis, and consequentlyontheimbalancecaused in thediverseecosystemsonthe global level.

29. Resilience experts testify that for us to be positively resilient, we need above all to cultivate an affective bond with the Earth,

30. to take care of it with understanding, compassion and love; to alleviate its pain through a reasonable and moderate use of its resources, giving up all forms of violence against its ecosystems.

31. The North has to put into practice a sustainable withdrawal of its desire for consumption, so that the South can have a sustainable development in harmony with the community of life.

32. It is important to encourage optimism, because life has gone through countless devastation and it has always been resilient and has grown in biodiversity.

33. It is crucial for us that we project a utopian horizon that will give meaning to our alternatives, that will shape that which is new which will save us all.

34. In this unhealthy environment it is important to maintain health; that is how Gaia will also become healthy and gracious to all.(L. Boff, III Congreso Extraordinario Proyectos y Utopías para un Mundo Mejor, Madrid, 2009)

35. Heraclitus said more than twenty centuries ago, “We can never bathe twice in the same river”. The same is true with resilience. After experiencing difficulty, we never return to the same point of origin.

36. Each difficulty or change has an effect on us and both have the capacity to transform us. They usually come at the most inopportune moment, although we never know what the right moment is. The challenge is to understand the difficulty as an invitation to give the best of ourselves.