Emotional Resilience

Emotional Resilience is described as the ability to cope with stressful situations in life and adapt to difficulties.

The Turkish Language Association defines “emotion” (duygu) as follows:

1. Perception through the senses, feeling

2. The impression awakened in a person’s inner world by certain objects, events, or individuals; heart

3. The ability to evaluate objects or events in terms of morality and aesthetics

4. A unique spiritual movement or mobility

The word duygu originates from the verb “duy-”, which means to perceive, to feel.

Emotions appear from the very moment a human is born. A baby’s emotional development is shaped at first by their family or caregiver, and during childhood by their environment.

Since emotions are formed by the impressions objects, events, or individuals awaken within us, this means that emotions change according to our thoughts—our mind—and the meaning we assign to a situation, person, or object.

The mind mostly works focused on the past or the future. Throughout life, it accumulates patterns—things it has learned or inferred from experiences. These patterns carried from the past act as a veil, preventing us from seeing the present moment clearly and objectively. That is why the first step toward emotional resilience is awareness.

The next step is to recognize the emotions that arise within us in response to life experiences and events. Which objects, people, situations, or events trigger which emotions in us? Observing these connections and patterns in our lives provides us with insights that help us better understand ourselves.

In 1970, psychologist Paul Ekman studied human emotions and stated that there are six basic emotions: happiness, sadness, fear, disgust, anger, and surprise.

Human beings feel both what we call negative and positive emotions. Positive emotions are those we enjoy feeling and experiencing; negative emotions are those we do not enjoy feeling. Naturally, people tend to dislike negative emotions. As a result, when faced with them, they may develop defense mechanisms such as ignoring, denying, or resisting these emotions.

However, emotional resilience begins with accepting one’s reality rather than denying it. When you feel a negative emotion, it is important to identify and accept it. Then, evaluating whether this emotion is a real, present emotion, or a product of the mind, or whether it stems from a past experience, or is learned from society or family—this gives us the opportunity to look at our feelings more objectively, rather than being swept away by them.

Emotional resilience does not mean never experiencing negative emotions.It is the ability to remain more balanced while feeling negative emotions without being completely swept away internally, and to be able to rise again emotionally when we fall.

Gökçe YILMAZ