Ever heard that saying, “change is the only constant”? I think this statement has never been truer in life than it is right now for many people. Day by day, there is a constant demand to pivot (insert Ross Gellar voice), adapt, try again, let go, and so on and so on. As much as people have craved “normalcy” and consistency over the last 15 months, the only thing that seems consistent is how hard it all is. For many this has led to the experience of languishing. Languishing is a term you will hear a great deal about in the future. Simply put, it is an emptiness, a state of not being depressed and not being happy, with little connection to the past, present, or future. 

So what is a person to do to recharge their resilience and help them manage the constant change and emptiness? How great it would be if there was a one-size-fits-all answer to that question. The truth is we have to be willing to do something different. In order to be able to influence how we are feeling, we must first learn to develop a new perspective on how we relate to our experiences and environment. For many this is easier said than done, but that may a thing of the past. 

Resilience in not a result, but a process. When someone is behaving in a resilient way, they are not personalizing, not fixing, not avoiding but instead being assertive and curious, accepting influence, and looking for lessons. Within the Ohio State Employee Assistance Program, we believe strongly in the development of resilience in all dimensions of life whether it is individual, organizational, and/or societal. We are so enthusiastic about Resilience in fact that we are partnering with Education Development and Resource to launch our new Resilience program in the summer and fall of 2021. It can be hard to wrap our minds around such a complex concept, let alone break it down into steps that can be applied in the moment. That’s why we did the hard work for you! If you are one of those people who feels like they are languishing, or if you are a person doing well in coming out of the 2020 fog, then check out the new E-learning Module: Growing toward Resilience.

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