Each stressful experience that you have prepares you to deal with one in the future. The more resilient you become, the less influence each of these events has on your mind and body. Many of us go to great lengths to avoid stress, and although avoidance initially feels like you are doing alright, the reality is that stressful things come up in our life all the time. The better we are at handling them, the more resilient we become, and the healthier we can be.

Each stressful experience can lead us into a cycle of confusion and even anguish. If we stay with those feelings, however, things actually get worse. But if we make a decision to deal with those circumstances by problem solving and adapting, we develop resilience. This means that we can enjoy life more and be more successful.

As you encounter more stressors in life (and we all do), we can rely on the experience we’ve had in dealing with negative circumstances in order to cope. We become more effective at managing that cycle of confusion and anguish, problem solving, adapting, and moving on.

Up Next:

Session 19: A Personal Action Plan