Good emotions are foundation of psychological resilience and are largely a matter of your attitude to yourself, your relationships and world in general. It is noticed that psychologically resilient people display following characteristics: happiness, confidence, optimism, mental stamina, good communication and feeling of control.
Happiness
When you think about good emotions, the first what comes to your mind is happiness. However, many people don’t know what’s happiness exactly. If you assume that obtaining material things will make you happy, you will be soon disappointed, because every time you achieve your material goal, you will find yourself wishing for something else. Happiness is more about appreciating what you already have. In other words, it is about wanting what you have. Happiness cannot be bought for any price. It doesn’t depend on your circumstances, rather it depends on your reaction to your circumstances.
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Control
Though we do not have complete control over our lives, we need to feel at least some control over our environment or else we become helpless and prone to depression. Control can be of two levels: the ability to change given situation (first-level control) and the ability to change how you think about given situation (second-level control). It might not be easy to know the difference between the two every time. It may also require some very hard decisions. However, the feeling of control is necessary for becoming a happier person.
It is important to remember that your response to the stressful events is at least partially under your control. Deciding to develop greater control over your circumstances will help you become happier and more psychologically resilient person.
Optimism
One of the most important good emotions that is crucial for developing psychological resilience is optimism. Optimism is defined as expecting for good things to happen in the future. It is the opposite of pessimism, which is expecting for occurrence of bad things.
There is a scientific evidence that optimism contributes to good mental and physical health by reducing feeling of helplessness and motivating people to take constructive decisions to deal with their issues as they arise, by improving the ability to develop good relationships and positively influencing the immune system.
Being optimistic is also a habit. If you are naturally pessimistic, you can improve the situation by identifying the pessimistic thoughts you have, then challenging them. Most of the times these are exaggerated thoughts that can be corrected with more realistic and more optimistic thoughts.
Mental Stamina
Mental Stamina or hardiness could be classified as good qualities rather than good emotions, but because it is such an important quality to have for becoming psychologically resilient we mention it here. Mental stamina is to be strong and tolerant to stressful events, which is achieved by looking at the stressful events as a challenge that the one could overcome. This is an active way of dealing with the problems, which allows to look at the problems in a more positive light, such as to see them as opportunities to prove one self and to develop. This is a total opposite of pessimistic approach where stressful events are seen as overwhelming and paralyzing forces.
To become psychologically resilient person cultivate these emotions and qualities in yourself. In addition, build good relationships based on mutual love and care, where you support others and others support you. Be prepared for setbacks and learn to see them as challenge. To help yourself deal with these hard moments look for articles and documents about psychological resilience and emotional intelligence. If you commit to working on yourself, you will get your ultimate reward – better mental and physical health.