Whether you鈥檙e reeling from a bad-news day or staring down an existential crisis, learning to bounce back isn鈥檛 just nice, it鈥檚 necessary. After all, our ability to lead a meaning-filled life depends on drowning out the sad-trombone sound in our heads and changing the soundtrack鈥攂ut how? 鈥淚t鈥檚 very human to focus on what鈥檚 wrong and poke holes,鈥� says Heather Cray of Dal鈥檚 School for Resource and Environmental Studies. 鈥淏ut the concepts of restoration and resilience give us the tools to move beyond challenges into solutions.鈥� Here鈥檚 what three experts shared about tried-and-true coping strategies:
Plug in to nature
It鈥檚 all too easy to spend hours doomscrolling through negative online news headlines or shaking our fists at the TV, but that wasted time doesn鈥檛 boost our bounce-back potential. 鈥淲e hear a lot about increased levels of hopelessness and helplessness these days, and it鈥檚 no wonder,鈥� says Kent Williams of Dal鈥檚 Rowe School of Business. 鈥淲e鈥檙e living inside a pandemic while we watch dystopian zombie movies and observe the realities of climate change.鈥� His solution? Disconnecting from the virtual world and entering the nature that surrounds us, whether that means a wilderness hike or stroll through an urban park. 鈥淩esearch shows that when we experience nature, things change; these activities decrease cortisol, and add to our perspective and connectedness.鈥�
Celebrate small victories
After stints studying re-vegetation in the Arctic, where permafrost disturbances meant witnessing significant positive change would take hundreds of years, Dr. Cray had an epiphany: she could switch her specialty to tallgrass prairie ecosystems and be able to participate in building a more immediate before-and-after. 鈥淚t鈥檚 amazing to watch life return to an old abandoned piece of lawn,鈥� she says. 鈥淪eeing that I could affect tangible change in five-to-ten years felt empowering. It taught me that it鈥檚 necessary to do the long work, but also important to dig into the short work and take the little wins.鈥�
Join the animal world
Pets help release stress in numerous ways: they provide companionship, force us to be more active, and elevate our levels of calming dopamine and serotonin. So, it鈥檚 a good-news story when pet adoptions skyrocket, as they did in 2020. 鈥淲e know that human-animal bonds are beneficial to our health, but resilience is systemic,鈥� says Haorui Wu, an assistant professor at Dal鈥檚 School of Social Work. 鈥淲hen we protect animals, both as pets and as co-inhabitants of our planet, it improves our own resilience capacity.鈥� He cautions, though, that pet ownership is a long-term commitment. If you鈥檙e not ready for the work and responsibility of a furry friend, consider donating to an animal-welfare charity for a dose of instant feel-good instead.
Look forward
Having a roadmap for success and happiness is key, but expect a few detours along the way鈥攅specially when it comes to transformation. 鈥淚f you don鈥檛 have clear and realistic goals for what you want to change in your life or the world, it鈥檚 easy to get lost in the process,鈥� says Dr. Cray. In her own field of research, for example, it wouldn鈥檛 be realistic to turn an urban park into an old-growth forest in five years, but she could hope to add biodiversity and enhance the sense of place. 鈥淲hat restoration teaches us is to make a plan, then constantly assess, monitor and modify. This way, your goal isn鈥檛 perfection but forward momentum鈥攁nd that鈥檚 how we build a better and more functional world.鈥�
Ditch the fear of failure
It鈥檚 time to broaden our definition beyond profit and into purpose, says Dr. Williams. 鈥淚n our industrial world, we position graduates of business school for 鈥榮uccess,鈥� but that鈥檚 code for 鈥楬ow can I make more money?鈥欌�� he says. 鈥淏ut we need to talk about other definitions of success and one of them is embracing failure. Failure is a starting point for personal and societal growth, and that鈥檚 where our biggest learning can be.鈥�
Know thyself
Developing鈥攁nd then flexing鈥攐ur self-reflective muscle can help us both personally and professionally, according to Dr.鈥疻illiams. 鈥淪lowing down and spending some conscious time with yourself can be a powerful gateway to seeing things differently,鈥� he says. In business settings, heated interactions escalate quickly when we react to someone else鈥檚 emotions. Our mirror neurons pick up on the other person鈥檚 energy, which in turn leads us to make assumptions and pivot to rebuttal. But when we mirror calmness and empathy, a productive dialogue is possible. 鈥淚f you can be a leader and say, 鈥業 see that you鈥檙e upset, can you help me understand why?鈥� and then listen deeply, you begin to understand where the other person is coming from in their perspective, or they might tell you what鈥檚 really going on. And that鈥檚 dialogue, and the connective tissue of resilience.鈥�
Get involved
In times of loneliness or isolation, frustrations build when we focus on what Dr. Wu calls 鈥渢op-down鈥� strategies鈥攊n other words, government responses to our own crises. He says flipping the script and taking power into our own hands with community engagement is directly related to our ability to recover. 鈥淲e know that the elderly community has been vulnerable in this pandemic, but we鈥檝e seen many good actions in support of this community, like retired nurses returning to hospitals, or elderly people activating their own networks to help deliver groceries or medicine,鈥� he says. 鈥淲hen we tap into shared resources and expertise, we improve out outcomes.鈥�
听
This story appeared in the DAL Magazine Fall 2021 issue. Flip through the rest of the Fall 2021 issue using the links below.