ART THE of getting BACK UP

You can’t always control what life throws at you, but you can control how you respond to it.

How often have we heard this mantra? But what does it really mean to have the capacity to manage the challenges that arise in your life?

Many people will tell you this capacity is called emotional intelligence. While this may be true to some extent, an important quality in controlling your reaction to adversity – a quality that is often overlooked – is mental resilience.

Marilyn Davis-Shulman, a clinical psychologist in Johannesburg, explains that mental resilience is the defining variable that distinguishes people who can go through very stressful episodes, experience the consequent/appropriate emotions, make meaning of what they have been through, and emerge stronger and wiser.