Steel Notes Magazine
July & August 2016
That which does
not kill us makes us
stronger
- Nietzsche
Alessia Bastianelli
Throughout life, everyone has to cope with adverse
situations, difficult experiences, or even tragic events.
Disappointments, daily conflicts, job loss, illness, and
the death of a loved one are examples of life experiences that can upset people’s psychological stability.
These upheavals of one’s existing balance can confront
people with a series of questions from which we cannot escape: Why me? What did I do to deserve this?
When looking for a clarifying response, it is possible to
redefine one’s suffering, although overcoming suffering
may never be realized fully. The pain that we feel can
be converted into an added value, a source of greater
sensitivity to our existence and empathy toward other
people. While some wounds will not heal completely,
any adverse situation can represent an opportunity for
greater fulfillment if it is not lived passively as punishment or as a denial of happiness in its sudden and
unexpected occurrence. The real challenge is discovering how to overcome these difficult times. In this sense,
difficulties are like opportunities or tests that encourage
us to gather and organize our resources, both internal and external: a challenge from which no one is exempt in
order to achieve a more functional life balance.
To face the inevitable adversities of life, we harken to a skill known
as resilience. This term was taken from the engineering sector and
indicates the ability of a material to withstand a sudden impact
without cracking. Its action can be compared to that of our immune
system, which is called upon to protect us from external aggression. From a psychological point of view, resilience is the process of
adapting in the face of adversity, tragedy, pressures, or significant
sources of stress.
Resilience is therefore the ability to heal ourselves after an injury,
cope, and manage to reorganize our lives successfully, in spite of difficult situations that suggest a negative result.
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