Congratulations & Examination

Congratulations, Dr. Lauren!! 

​Last Friday, we got to celebrate my niece’s HUGE accomplishment. I am SO impressed she did it, and I could not be more proud.

Seven years of Pharmacy School are challenging enough without the additional stress and complications of a global pandemic.  
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Here’s to Dr. Lauren, and all the graduates we are celebrating this season!

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“I can be changed by what happens to me.
But I refuse to be reduced by it.”
~ Maya Angelou

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Popular Words Worth Examining | Chapter 1
Resilience

Last week at Lauren’s graduation, I heard a lot about “resilience.” And, it’s true. Her class did demonstrate “the capacity to withstand or to recover quickly from difficulties; toughness.” (Oxford Language Dictionary)

Doing labs, attending classes, passing exams throughout COVID? That certainly required resilience; I admire and respect her entire graduating class.

Resiliency is something we all need because life asks a lot from us. But, what exactly is resilience? Even though it has been studied, the complexity of resiliency is not fully understood. There are arguments that it is a trait, but even stronger arguments that it is a skill. Meaning, we can increase our ability to be resilient.

And that’s a good thing. Because if we are faced with trauma in our lives, we want to have the skills to surmount the situation rather than succumb to it.

Even if we manage to live a life free of Trauma, we are guaranteed to face adversity. I don’t know anyone who lives a stress-free life, and resilience is one of the components that helps us get through the tough stuff.

Why, or how, does resilience help? Resiliency helps us frame the trauma, or the adversity, or the stress, in a way that we can better manage. Yep, turns out the way we frame the situation in our mind, the narrative we build around it, has an impact on how we respond.

There’s the actual adversity, and then there’s the way we process it, integrate it, move through it . . . or not. (It’s true, we can also become less resilient. 😟)

There is a growing body of research demonstrating we can be taught a set of skills to regulate our emotional responses, and that this new mindset lasts over time.  Yes, please.

Three proven ways to effectively grow our resiliency?
We change how we talk to ourselves! You know, that seemingly ceaseless voice chattering on and on inside our heads.

According to University of Pennsylvania psychologist Martin Seligman, we shift our explanatory style:

1. from internal to external (i.e., that bad event is not my fault)
2. from global to specific (i.e., this is one small blip, not an indication that everything in my life is falling apart)
3. from permanent to ephemeral (i.e,, I can change the situation; it is not fixed)

I like these tools, and I am adding them into my toolkit. Like all of us, I am a work in progress. I hope I am discerning enough to know the difference between being present in my pain . . . versus ruminating, and getting stuck there.

Honestly? I wish we lived in a world that necessitated less resiliency, because I wish life wasn’t so tough. However, this is the world we live in, and I want every single one of us to thrive.

Love to all,

~ m ♥️

P.S. HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY to my Mom (featured in the photo at the top) and to all who serve and nurture as Moms! We love you, and celebrate you, and thank you 🙏🏽