By Alyssa Delarosa
Edited by Natalie Grace Sipula
[3.5 minute read]
What is it exactly that enables us to leave our beds every morning? What is it that motivates us to perform daily tasks such as school, homework, studying, work, chores, etc.? In the midst of a now year-long global pandemic, how are we still able to function? In each of us, there exists a trait called resilience that is the driving force behind our decisions to perform our daily tasks even while the world outside is undergoing a chaotic time. Resilience means that while we may have a million things happening either directly to us or around us, we are able to still carry on with our responsibilities. We do this by prioritizing certain tasks as essential duties meaning that we are so bound and determined to follow through on our decision(s), we will ignore all other things attempting to distract us from our priorities. So why is this important?
The reason why I chose to write this article on resilience is because I strongly feel that we have an issue with recognizing and acknowledging our own resilience, and therefore we do not give ourselves the credit and acknowledgment we deserve. Prioritizing certain tasks and events over others, even while the world may be falling apart around us, is no small feat. I firmly believe that we owe it to ourselves to recognize our resilience in the daily, seemingly insignificant decisions that we make. By choosing to recognize our resilience and give ourselves credit, we are making the decision to show ourselves self-care. We are also feeding our confidence and self-esteem in a healthy way.
How can we recognize and acknowledge our resilience? Personally, I try to be mindful of the fact that every decision I make is important and give myself credit for prioritizing things even if they are small such as getting out of bed, attending class, and opening up my textbook to study for my exam. I recommend that you do the same: Give credit to yourself for every decision you make even if it seems small, getting out of bed when the world is falling to pieces and showing up to your Zoom lecture to take notes and listen are no easy tasks.
Another way that I recognize and acknowledge my resilience is through meditation. Specifically, meditation in an environment outside of my usual indoor quarantine space such as the beach or any outdoor spot in general. Meditation taps into the mindfulness that is essential for owning resilience. By recognizing, acknowledging, and growing the resilience that is already in each of us, we can effectively create more self-care and self-esteem for ourselves, which important especially now more than ever as the pandemic continues on.
While I listed my personal methods of recognizing and acknowledging my resilience, there are many other methods and ways to build on this. Each person has different things that work for them, so by doing some self-reflection and discovering what others do, you can develop practices that are right for you. I am sure you can think of a few and remember, thinking and practicing all of the different ways you can grow your resilience – is resilience itself.
Alyssa is a junior at the Dornsife College of Letters, Arts, and Sciences majoring in psychology. She is excited to learn about cultures worldwide as she has a large variety of European and Hispanic ancestry. Alyssa has lived in four different cities in California that include Ventura, Somerset, (one hour south from Sacramento) Santa Cruz, and Santa Clarita. Currently, Alyssa resides in Oxnard, California. When she is not studying or working on various community engagement projects, Alyssa enjoys reading, skateboarding, skimboarding, rollerblading, ice skating, hiking, and going to the beach. Alyssa can talk about practically anything and she is very conversational.