What is Emotional Resilience? – Part 1

The London Pain Clinic staff recently attended an excellent seminar by Mel Lisney and we were so impressed we have asked Mel to write an article for all our social media followers on the topic of Emotional Resilience

What is Emotional Resilience?

Whenever embarking on a conversation about Emotional Resilience, it is really important to establish what we are talking about.  We human beings are capable of a vast and complex range of feelings – most of which we don’t have the vocabulary to express in words.  Those feelings will, however, always impact the way we view and interact with the outside world.  Resilience is not about putting on a suit of armour to protect us from our potential to feel, it is about acknowledging our feelings – even celebrating them – and then deciding what we want to do with them.  Emotional Resilience depends upon our self-awareness and our capacity to self-manage.

We have all been affected in some way by life events and the fact that we have worked our way through many challenges is evidence that we are already resilient.  The key now is to keep working on our ability to cope well with the situations and circumstances that await us in the future.  Some will have experienced extreme feelings, perhaps through loss and uninvited change. These people may find resonance in the Chinese saying “Sorrow digs the wells for happiness”.  Maybe we can only appreciate what we have, when we have first-hand experience of how transitory things can be.

Mel will continue with this article next week as she explains how we can work on our emotional resilience.

Mel Lisney, Workplace Trainer, Optimal Management Development Ltd can be contacted at melanie@optimalmanagement.co.uk