The Resilience Factor 

            We live in a culture filled with victims. It seems that every time anything unfortunate happens to us, we immediately skew reality and defend our egos with a vengeance. It’s never my fault and everyone else is out to get me. This kind of attitude is constantly in the news, portrayed in movies and television, and acted out in every day life. It’s frustrating on so many levels, but it’s especially frustrating when I read about techniques for increasing resilience and see how well they actually work. The theme of the text seemed to be that if people were more well equip with resilience techniques, the overall happiness and tolerance of people would increase. Why is it then, that this resilience information isn’t more widely available?

            Well I suppose it is…sort of. There are Penn Resilience Programs scattered throughout the country, programs aimed at parenting and relationships, and this book can easily be purchased. However, the themes and specific methods for increasing resilience are not commonly discussed or taught to the average American. It’s as if there is this vast amount of useful information stuck in the shadows. The problem is that the people in the sunshine are trapped feeling sorry for themselves all day long. It’s contagious.

            When I finished the reading, the first thought I had was that I owe it to my children to teach them about being resilient. I see it as my duty to pass on the good message. I don’t see this material being added to the local high school curriculum any time soon and I certainly can’t count on my kids peers to positively influence them in such a way.

            Studies’ dealing with human beings resilience is certainly new information in the world of psychology. I can only hope that in the future this material is accepted and practiced by more and more people. A tiny part of me actually wants to see The Resilience Factor on Oprah’s favorite books list. At least that way people would read it.