The Pursuit of Resilience

By Chardonnay Beaver

I think recovery and resilience are often defined similarly. However, resilience isn’t a synonym for recovery. These two concepts stand independently and are equally necessary for our well being.

According to Merriam-Webster, resilience is the ability to recover from or adjust easily to misfortune or change. Because life is a beautiful struggle, resilience is a byproduct of hope. Hope to move forward, hope that everything will be okay, and hope for the future.

Whereas, Merriam-Webster defines recovering as being in the process of overcoming a disorder or shortcoming. Here’s what I’ve drawn from this definition.

First, recovery is a process. When we embark on the journey of recovery, there’s going to be stages where you wish someone would pull your two front teeth out. Yet, all these stages lead you to exactly where you need to be. None of it is wasted – every tear, sacrifice, and learning-curve.

Second, recovery is about overcoming. To overcome is to succeed in dealing with difficulty or hardship. Thus, recovery has a caveat: obstacles.

Resilience abides in how we overcome. Resilience is a style of overcoming.

Words of Wisdom by Char of The Week: The pursuit of resilience resides in recovery. Whatever we seek to recover will require a process of overcoming obstacles. This is the beautiful struggle that we call life. 2 Corinthians 1:4