By Tanya Jolliffe RDN, LD, CMHIMP
Without a doubt, 2020 has been a long and challenging year for most of us. It is understandable that people are ready to go put the old to bring in the new. Scripture even reinforces this in Isaiah 43:18-19, “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.”
Unfortunately for many of us, it isn’t that easy. As we close out one year and welcome in the next, many of the situations we are experiencing will continue. So how do you begin the new year anticipating the “new thing” that the Lord is doing?
Resilience is the capacity to recover quickly from difficulties, to bounce back and adapt. Resiliency skills are needed to face trauma and tragedy as well as to cope with health problems, financial difficulties, and workplace and family stress. Resilience is a wellness value that is grounded in self-awareness, mindfulness, self-care, positive relationships, and living a life of purpose. The stronger those skills are the more resilient a person tends to be, and just like any other skill, it takes practice, intention, and time to develop.
Changing your thinking is one of the first steps you can take to develop personal resilience. Reflection can be a great way to turn our focus away from all that isn’t going right toward blessings and toward the one from whom all blessings flow.
Here are several reflection questions from Brands for the Heart that can help you review this past year from a different lens. Get a journal, open the notes app on your phone, or simply grab a piece of paper and a pen and spend some time reflecting and writing down your answers to some of these questions. When you feel overwhelmed, full of self-pity, or scared in the days ahead, review your answers to help you maintain your perspective and resiliency.
- What are you most grateful for in 2020?
- What gave you the most feeling of purpose this past year?
- When did you feel like you expressed yourself the best at work or at home this past year?
- What was the single greatest lesson you learned this year?
- What new qualities, skills, or superpowers did you discover about yourself this past year?
- What was your most courageous action this year?
- What was your most selfless act this past year?
- In what way(s) did you grow spiritually during the past year?
- In what ways did your relationships grow over this past year?
As you encounter situations moving through the new year, remember that you can develop resilience as you handle and cope with each and every situation that comes along. Turn to scripture to help you as you cope. Scriptures such as these will help you cope and develop resilience:
- Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God (Philippians 4:6).
- Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths (Proverbs 3:5-6).
- Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you (1 Peter 5:7).
- So we say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can mere mortals do to me (Hebrews 13:6)?”
- Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight (Proverbs 3:5-6).
Building resilience requires maintaining a proper perspective, accepting change and what you can’t control, and keeping a hopeful outlook through the eyes of the one that holds your future in His hands. Make 2021 your year of resilience.
