Background

Resilience encourages using positive-coping skills to manage stress in an optimal way. Our objectives are to develop social support systems, positive-coping skills for resilience, self-esteem, self-efficacy (believing you are capable of reaching a goal), and problem solving skills. An entirely educational approach is used for learning resilience using the theme of the "Hero's Journey." Common to many epic stories is the hero who, facing a challenge, goes on an adventure, is victorious, and returns as a transformed person. You are the hero in this journey.

Read the following Why/How/Example Flashcard. Work on answering the questions in the Tell your story, Collaborate, and Own It exercises. Writing your responses will help you to better organize your thinking. You are most strongly encouraged to do the Collaborate exercise with another person so that you become aware of how to work with people within a social support system, people who can work with you on real life challenges. Refer to the workbook for a more in depth look at this skill and its exercises.

Adaptability Flashcard

Adaptability is the flexibility to meet a challenge.

• Why: Often our biggest obstacle to dealing with change is the ability to change ourselves, our ability to adapt. Adapting to change provides confidence and growth. Believing you have the ability to succeed, you pursue a challenge as something to be mastered rather than as a threat. You are empowered — you own it!

• How: Developing your adaptability skill can be a goal setting process that calls for planning, persistence, and cooperation to define and develop.
• Think about your challenge and research the idea. Perhaps a skillful solution already exists.
• Discuss the skill idea with others to be sure the idea is understood and can meet its intended purpose.
• Consider creating the skill as a goal that is reachable along with the steps necessary to reach the goal.
• Steps may include a definition About the skill, Why the skill meets the challenge, and How the skill meets the challenge.

• Example: Using the idea of “Who am I going to call when …,” I want to extend my social support system to include people who have skills or qualities I may need. I will start with the simplest and move to the most essential members of my social support system. I further want to adapt my phone contact app to include these people in my contact list.
• My challenge is to extend my social support system using my phone contact list. (About…)
• Preparing for the future shapes me to adapt to the unexpected. (Why…)
• I research my phone contact app and begin with the easier contacts moving to more complex. (How…)
• I consider services such as electricity, water, gas, plumber, and roadside assistance.
• I consider healthcare such as physician, dentist, and veterinarian.
• I consider emergency services such police, fire, suicide, and poison control.
• I consider family, associates, and friends and the roles they play in the social support system.
• I consider In Case of Emergency (ICE) contact.

Hero's Journey

• Tell your story

  Think about a time when you used something like Adaptability to successfully deal with a challenge. Answer the following questions. 1) What was your challenge? 2) Did you do any research to see if a skillful solution had been already developed? 3) Did you talk with others to be sure the adapted skill was understood and could meet its intended purpose? 4) What was the skill?

• Collaborate

  Work with a companion and consider a real challenge you, your companion or someone you know is currently facing by applying the Adaptability skill. Answer the following questions. 1) What is the challenge? 2) What abilities or qualities does your companion have that can help with the challenge? 3) Can you research the challenge to see if a possible solution already exists? 4) Can you talk with others to be sure the adapted skill is understood and can meet its intended purpose? 5) What is the skill?

• Own it

  Reflect upon the Adaptability skill and describe the skill in a few of your own words. You are adapting the meaning of the skill to be more useable and memorable.