How to Get More Resilience in Your Life

Maybe you're just having a bad day. Or maybe stress on the job, or at home makes every day a challenge. Follow the lead of Clare Brooks, a nurse who organized a retreat day for herself and fellow workers. 


After eighteen months of stressful transition at the hospital, she realized nurses couldn't wait for someone else to recognize they're energy was depleted. They'd have to refuel their tanks themselves.

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Emergency room nurses at Seattle Children's Hospital must be ready at any moment to care for a critically ill or injured child. They must understand and follow complex protocols and make split second decisions. The nurses deal with anxious family members and often work long hours without a break.

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Kate Bracy, RN, MS told nurses the main elements of resiliency are healthy coping skills, a sense of hope, self-awareness, strong relationships. and offered ways of enhancing resilience.

ENHANCING RESILIENCE:
-Nurture a positive view of yourself
-Keep things in perspective
-Make connections
-Accept change is a par of living
-Avoid seeing crises as insurmountable
-Take decisive action
-Move toward your goals
-Look for opportunities for self-discovery

I asked Clare if the day was worthwhile.

My part of the retreat was to share the inspiring story of the American WWII nurses who survived combat and Japanese prison camp. Their nursing vocation was important in giving them a purpose. It helped sustain them day after day as they suffered hunger and disease.

And I spoke about the importance of identity. The nurses were strengthened by their identity as U.S. military women. We have the opportunity to dig deeper for our identity, to some core or passion within us that doesn’t not come from an outside label. 


Labels fall away, or can be torn away. Our outer identity often depends on a job we do or a role we play. These can change over time, or in an instant.

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  Labels fall away, 
  or can be torn away.

To be resilient in the business of writing for children, I've discovered I had better not pin my identity on getting published or having my books sell well. Yes, that happened for me with PURE GRIT. But I've been writing for more than 15-years and there were a lot of those when I did not get a book published.


What about you? Beyond the work you do and the roles you play, such as parent, partner, cook & bottle-washer, do you have an identity that does not depend on results you produce?