7 INSIGHTS INTO BUILDING RESILIENCE # 4

#4
​Keep things in perspective

Learning to keep things in perspective is another way of developing resilience. The resilience developed by this method helps you through an unexpected unpleasant situation, such as a flat tire, or being stuck in a lift when going to an important meeting etc. Whatever situation you find yourself, keeping things in perspective will help you to focus on the matter at hand and not having multiple fits of anger, or slipping into hopelessness, blaming yourself and cursing your luck endlessly. When unexpected unpleasant situations arise, learn to keep calm and assess the whole situation before taking action. This is a very good tool and it will serve you well as a leader, as a group member or as a family member. Learning to keep things in perspective will ensure you do not derail to more moral damaging activities and help you have faith in your convictions and trust yourself to pull through a situation stronger and better.

Every man’s life ends the same way. It is only the details of how he lived and how he died that distinguish one man from another''
Ernest Hemingway

How do I do this?

• Take a few deep breaths – use the 4/7/8 method developed by Dr. Weil to relax and reconnect to your cognition. 

Place the tip of your tongue against the ridge of tissue just behind your upper front teeth and leave it there for the whole exercise. Inhale quietly through your nose to a mental count of 4 with your mouth closed. Hold your breath for a count of 7. Exhale completely through your mouth to a count of 8.  Keep the ratio and repeat between 4 to 6 times. 

• Reverse the stats and think about the reality

In the grand scheme of things we are nothing, and most of us are likely to be where we are. Too often we don’t realise how privileged we are and how many things we have (both material and immaterial) to allow us to have a good life. So take a few moments to appreciate your many blessings and then ask yourself if what you are currently living is really that important. Use a scale system of 1 to 10 to  give it a score. 1 being not important at all and 10 being a life or death situation.  Then ask yourself, is this going to impact you in 5 days? 5 months? 5 years? 
This is not going to change the way you feel straight away but it will certainly help put it all in perspective and react from a calmer place. 
Be aware, pick yourself up and tell yourself: ‘What doesn’t kill me can only make me stronger!’