Soar to Success July 2019

W hy do some people overcome seemingly insurmountable odds to prosper while others cave in at the slightest adversity? It’s called resilience. But what is it? Where does it come from? I recently came across the best article I have ever read on resilience, How Resilience Works, Improvising YourWay out of Trouble. The author, Diane Cautu, suggests resilient people possess three characteristics: 1. a staunch acceptance of reality; 2. the propensity to make meaning of terrible times; 3. and an uncanny ability to improvise. Her research shows that you can bounce back from hardship with just one or two of these qualities, but you will only be truly resilient with all three. In this article we will explore the 3rd building bock, “ritualized ingenuity”. Thethirdbuildingblockof resilience istheabilitytomake do with whatever is at hand or “Bricolage”. Bricolage is defined as a kind of inventiveness, an ability to improvise a solution to a problem without proper or obvious tools or materials. The best example of Bricolage I can think of is one of my favorite TV shows, MacGyver. MacGyver’s main asset was his ability to use nothing but items MacGyver and Resilience Have in Common? What do By Joan Washburn