Did you know that humans possess magic? Not in the Harry Potter, casting a spell type of way, but in a way that might shock you. My psychology professor first brought this subject up in a class called Child Abuse and Neglect, one of the most challenging classes I have taken. Despite the negative topic, she managed to turn it into a positive experience, which piqued my curiosity. She said humans possess a magical trait called resilience. She told us that we are one of the only species with the complex thinking skills to convince ourselves to start over, get back up, and try again. She said that if it weren’t for the resilience of the kids who kept trying again and again to get help, more than half of the abusive situations would end in fatalities. That stunned me. A lot of the time, when we need saving, we picture someone else coming in and rescuing us, but what if we thought of ourselves instead? It really shifted my mindset. We can be our own saviors.Â
So, what even is resilience? It’s the ability to adapt and bounce back from adversity, stress, trauma, and other challenges. Resilience doesn’t mean just ignoring the issue; it means learning to deal with it in a new way. Humans tend to be a bit egocentric — that’s just part of our nature. A lot of the time, egocentrism isn’t useful, but that’s what actually helps us be resilient. When we are so focused on ourselves and our own problems, it can feel like we have the weight of the world on our backs, but that often motivates resilience. I believe that, as humans, we all struggle with change until it becomes our only chance at having a better life.
You are more resilient than you know. You may be sitting here reading this, thinking, This is not me. I don’t take risks, I don’t do hard things. But you’ve done more than you know. Your resilience started when you were young. If you had given up after you fell the first time that you tried to take steps, you wouldn’t be able to walk. Resilience is hard-wired into us because it’s one of our survival skills. You and I wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for the first humans who tried and failed, probably hundreds of times, to get food, make fires, and stay warm. Resilience is in your bones. So the next time something challenging or hard happens, just remember that you possess a type of magic that will save you.