A young couple within two months lost a job, totaled their car in a frightening wreck, and had a baby. Just one of those things is life changing. But all three?

Emotions naturally flood our systems in these times. The roller coaster ride of thoughts and feelings usually results in deep uncertainty and fear.

How do people get through seasons of extreme shock, disappointment, and change?

They have to possess the beautiful and strong quality of resilience.

Resilience is the ability to adapt, recover, and keep moving forward through stress, hardship, or major change.

That sounds great, doesn’t it? I want that!

Admiring resilience and cultivating it in our lives are two very different things, however.

Some people seem to be born with a natural capacity for resilience and others learn it in their homes growing up, but everyone with the help of the Holy Spirit within can develop it and become resilient. It is a process that requires time and effort as we intentionally choose to nurture it through daily frustrations. Then when something “big” happens, resilience emerges and enables us to overcome and press forward.

There are five key characteristics of a high-resiliency person. Let’s look at them one at a time in the following posts.

Note: This series was inspired by Jamie Winship’s book The War of Worldviews: Choosing Connection in a Culture of Separation.