18 resilience quotes to help you overcome adversity

“Life doesn’t get easier or more forgiving; we get stronger and more resilient.” —Steve Maraboli, author

Once you stop expecting life to get easier over time or for someone else to solve your problems, you recognise how much control you really do have over your own experiences.

Sticking to a routine schedule, including when to go to bed and when to get up, can help you feel more in control of your life.

“Resilience isn’t all or nothing. It comes in amounts. And no matter how resilient you are today, you can become more resilient tomorrow.” —Karen Reivich, psychologist and researcher

Resilience, like any learned skill, can be honed and improved. It may also depend on the situation. For instance, you may feel more resilient when confronting challenges at work than you do in relationships.

Recognising where you can use more resilience can help you strengthen those weaknesses.

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“Resilience is a precious skill. People who have it have three advantages: a belief they can influence life events, a tendency to find meaning and purpose in life’s turmoil, and a conviction they can learn from positive and negative experiences.” —Amanda Ripley, journalist

It’s not just about slogging through the struggle. Resilience offers benefits in other areas of your life.

The more resilient you are, the better you can be as a friend, a parent, a coworker, or a lover because it increases your capacity to give.

Just make sure to maintain and set healthy boundaries.

“Resilience is all about being able to overcome the unexpected. The goal of resilience isn’t to just survive but thrive.” —Jamais Cascio, author

Learning to choose happiness even in upsetting situations is a powerful skill, helping you to not just survive them but to come out better for it.

It can be especially tricky when you’re surprised by the pain, but that makes it even more valuable to practice resilience before you need it.

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“Although the world is full of suffering, it is also full of the overcoming of it.” —Helen Keller, author, educator, and advocate

Almost nothing is more inspiring than watching someone else overcome great obstacles and emerge stronger.

The news is full of beautiful stories of resilience if you look for them.

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“Resilience is very different than being numb. Resilience means you experience. You fall. You hurt. You fail. But you keep going anyhow.” —Yasmin Mogahed, psychologist

Pollyanna was the main character in the movie of the same name, known for her relentless positivity even when everything was going wrong.

A permanent smile isn’t the goal, however – this is called toxic positivity and it can cause more harm than good. Resilience isn’t ignoring or masking the pain, it’s being able to keep moving forward with the pain.

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“Wind does not break the tree that bends.” —Unknown

Brittle people break, so one of the best things you can do to cultivate resilience is to learn to be flexible and roll with the punches life throws at you. It also helps to be flexible with yourself.

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“Rock bottom became the solid foundation from which I rebuilt my life.” —J.K. Rowling, author

There is no sign that says you’ve hit your rock bottom, but that means you can decide when you’ve reached that point where you will turn it around.

“Man has never made any material as resilient as the human spirit.” —Unknown

If you worry that you’re just not one of those “resilient types,” consider this: you’ve already overcome 100 percent of your worst days. You are stronger than you realise, and you can build on those successes.

“Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.” —Arthur Ashe, professional tennis player

A major roadblock to feeling resilient is simply not knowing what to do. When you’re feeling down, everything can feel overwhelming. So instead of trying to change everything at once, start with one small positive change at a time.

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Source: RD.com