Can Resiliency To Stress Lengthen Your Life Expectancy?

On a scale of one to ten, ten being the highest, where do you think you stand with handling daily stressors? Are you the easy-going, flexible type or the weep-until-I-sleep type?

 

Resilience, to people, is many different things; but in most cases, resilience is the capacity of an individual to power through situations brought about by conflicts or discord either at home, work, or within the community.

 

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Technically, resiliency has two distinct parts:

 

  1. How well you recovered and grown from harrowing life or work traumas and adversities
  2. How well you were able to deal and conquer daily complications and stress

 

Everyone who experiences stress has their version of it. Though a lot of people recognize resilience as an innate ability that occurs when faced with a critical traumatic life event, it is also essential to understand the value of observing resistance when dealing with life’s daily challenges.

 

How Resilience Takes Effect

 

Whenever emotions get jumbled up inside, people tend to get frustrated and anxious quickly leading to an imbalanced lifestyle. People who are unable to recover from a shadowy past or a troublesome situation will eventually conclude that life is not worth living; this might result in severe drawbacks like mental and psychological illnesses. Mark Stibich, PhD said Constantly worrying, and living in a state of perpetual anxiety can reduce life expectancy.”

 

Though elusive, equilibrium is attainable for people who have managed to live a resilient life. People who know how to handle and survive tough circumstances know how to live longer through the management of their thoughts and emotions. “Our resilience to stress, adversity, and change depends on our inner resources,” said Beata Souders, MSc., PsyD. “And while we do not have much control over circumstances that determine our personality, intelligence or availability of support, we all can develop coping strategies.” Therefore, it’s all about how people effectively manage and respond to their situation.

 

Cultivating Resiliency

 

Awareness is the first step in cultivating resiliency. By diagnosing the triggers that prompt your stress and defining the negative and challenging speculations that cause one’s confusing emotions, you are facing the causes of your hardship with resilience. How is this done?

 

  1. Figure Out What Triggers You

 

Whenever you feel that you are slowly succumbing to stress, make a mental note of that specific event or situation. Then, document whatever emotion that you felt at that very moment; whether it’s anxiety, disappointment, shame, guilt, and so on. Make these emotions as your basis for triggered stress response.

 

  1. Delve Into The Roots

 

Every emotion felt is rooted in a particular thought; one must dig deep into these worries before they wind up into an outburst of emotional reaction. Always practice giving oneself or other people the benefit of the doubt because, behind every rage or disaster, is a viable reason waiting to be uncovered. According to the transactional model of stress cited by Romeo Vitelli Ph.D. in his article titled ‘Can Coping With Stress Help You Live Longer?,’ “How we respond to stress depends on the nature of the stressful event itself, the kind of inner resources we have for coping, how we appraise that stressful event, and the coping responses available to us.”

 

  1. Question The Thought

 

One has to realize that views and opinions revolving around a spiteful event are not always deemed accurate. Sometimes, people get upset for no apparent reason at all. Whenever you feel distressed, always reserve part of yourself to do a reality check. Find proofs that what you’re stressing upon is true or false. Do not get stranded on the idea that something is off for this will do more harm than good. The moment you perceive these antagonistic thoughts, you will be able to exterminate them from your system, leading to improved confidence and clarity, making you “in control” of your stress.

 

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How People Benefit From Resiliency

 

To answer the question, “Can resiliency lengthen one’s life expectancy?” Yes, it definitely can. Aside from that, it can also contribute to:

 

  • An increased workplace attitude
  • A more effective coping mechanism, especially to change
  • Improving performance at any aspect of life
  • Achieving a higher degree of success

 

Rather than creating an endless push and pull of negative emotions, it is best to gather oneself and practice resiliency so that it can contribute to a superior quality of life.