I Get Knocked Down...

Over the past few weeks I have thought a lot about what resiliency means. The Oxford English Dictionary describes a resilient person as being “able to withstand or recover quickly from difficult conditions”, someone who can bounce back from hardship or failure, who can rebound from a setbacks. The meaning of the word seems clear from this sentence, but to truly understand something you need to look at more than just the dictionary definition.

I am a movie buff and so often the first examples I think of are from film. Probably one of the most resilient characters to ever be on screen is Chris Gardner, played by Will Smith, in The Pursuit of Happyness (2006). When I first saw this movie I hated it. It was well acted, had a wonderful script, great direction, told an awe inspiring true story, and yet I was angry walking out of the theatre. I felt this way because Gardner is in a horrible situation the entire film; he is trying to make a living in the world for himself and his son and nothing goes his way. He never gives up, but no matter how hard he tries everything goes wrong. He struggles with homelessness for an extended period and yet does not give up on his dream of making a good life for his son. This is resiliency. I was angry walking out of the theatre because I saw it at Christmas, a happy time, and yet the movie made me incredibly sad. Despite the fact that Gardner’s work eventually paid off, I was not resilient enough to even enjoy the film; I had been knocked down one too many times along with Gardner over the course of two hours and couldn’t wouldn’t get up again with him. Five years of experience later I believe I am now a more resilient person. Despite setbacks I may face, I, like Gardner, keep soldiering on in working towards my goals in life. I recently watched this movie again, and enjoyed it much more the second time around. I highly recommend watching it to gain a greater appreciation of exactly what resiliency is.

Have any examples of resiliency to share? From movies, people you know, or your own life? Leave them in the comments below.

-Josh