The Journey Between Resiliency and Self-Affirmation

Making Art From the Broken Pieces

As our technology shifts and becomes increasingly accessible, we are expected to adapt to these new environments while also dealing with other ongoing issues in our lives.

Resiliency encompasses our ability to rebound back to a specific course, especially after going through something difficult. As we enter a future brimmed with uncertainty, it’s really important to figure out ways to combat the anxietal thinking associated with it.

For example, the financial author Jean Chatzky once noted,

“Resilience isn’t a single skill. It’s a variety of skills and coping mechanisms. To bounce back from bumps in the road as well as failures, you should focus on emphasizing the positive.”

To build resilience is to find ways to grow and change in spite of our hurdles. Instead of letting these items define us, they are instead opportunities to showcase our creative methods for problem-solving.

Yes, it’s terrible that you are going through something bad and yes, you’ve gone through bad things in the past. If you’ve survived terrible things in the past, you have the capacity to keep going, no matter how hard things seem.

Sometimes, people like to keep a list of positive statements, like a self-affirmation repository. Some people like to gradually assemble these positively-reinforced statements and put them into a binder. Other times, people may also fill it up with notable phrases and compliments. Some might even take the time to decorate it, adding stickers, paint, or even glitter.

A self-affirmation repository could also be a proper data entry log on Excel, where after a tough day, you can open it up and be instantly reminded of the things you’ve previously overcome and learned along the way. You can add more phrases to it as you go along.

While it sounds silly to some, that’s exactly what we need — a source of reliable validation when things are challenging to mentally calculate. A lot of times, you might read pieces where it assumes that you will obtain the support of others right away.

Sometimes, we can’t always rely on interpersonal support. There are precarious times where we end up riding solo temporarily, and we have to do various activities like self-affirmation repositories to keep going, even for a short while.

Plus, as the research has noted, self-affirmation allows us to foster a more positive-oriented mindset, and it makes it easier for future goal-setting. If that means making an Excel table or making a pretty binder that lists all of your prior accomplishments, then that’s what you have to do.

As the poet Shane Koyczan once said,

“If your heart is broken, make art with the pieces.”

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