Hello Friends,

So I heard the word resilience used by the health teacher I aid for, when describing pretty much the components of being a healthy person, and it just got me thinking.

“Resilience” in psychology is the positive capacity of people to copewith stress and adversity. (Wikipedia)

Resilience is defined as a dynamic process that individuals exhibit positive behavioral adaptation when they encounter significant adversity, trauma, tragedy, threats, or even significant sources of stress. It is different from strengths or developmental assets which are a characteristic of an entire population, regardless of the level of adversity they face. (Wikipedia)

I felt l like I really wanted to break this word and its meaning apart because I think it applies to so many things in life, especially those who deal with some sort of disability, trauma, or set back. What I first noticed about the definition is that it continued on to say, “Resilience is most commonly understood as a process, and not a trait of an individual.” I wanted to stress this because even I mistakenly thought resilience was a personal character trait, not really a “process” or something that occurs due to the effect our environment has on us as individuals. Certain events, people, and other healthy stimuli lead us to not be resilient, but to have the stability and optimism that causes resilience to occur.

You may be thinking, Okay, so what?

What I am really trying to get at is, we are all capable of positivity, of emotional strength…but it all comes down to our environment. Agree or disagree, but I believe that we are who we are in part because of our nurture, who and what we surround ourselves with. Although CP may not be as adverse as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (among many examples)  I do believe that to be able to deal with the challenges that CP brings each of us, we should really try to have a comprehensive understanding of how to go about that in a healthy way. By creating a world that brings forth all the good things about you, you’ll start to notice your stresses diminishing. This, I guarantee. It may be hard to admit that you feel depressed or stressed out because of how you walk or can’t do certain things, get a certain person to like you…but it is also another form of resiliency in process. To have the ability to take yourself outside of your situation and address your own problems and how to cope takes an immense amount of strength and skills many others who live a very comfortable, sheltered life simply cannot do.

In a way, I am writing this post just for me, these words are just my thoughts in second person…as weird as that sounds. I have to convince myself a lot of the time that I am capable of so much more that what my CP negates me physically. I figure, since the way I walk is not really going to change, I am going to have to change. I’ve become a pro at putting on a smile and saying I’m fine, but that is just not going to cut it. I am learning how to smile for myself and be proud of what I have ahead of me, the CP in me is just along for the ride. Life is exciting, life is a process and I think only time will tell how each of us will come to understand the possibility that life in itself holds for every one out there who feels like they are flawed or scrutinized.

So here’s to you, TeenCPers and all those times you saw your CP as a part of your downfall. Think of it in a way that it is all a part of your journey toward the process of finding resilience.

Happy almost Friday!

-Katy