What does it mean to be resilient?

A word I feel like we've heard so much over the last year is resilient.

Resilience. Strength. Positivity. Hope. Perserverance. The list goes on and on.

These words have been used a lot during the pandemic describing healthcare workers, essential workers, students, those who have been severely affected by COVID-19.

The one I've heard the most though is resilient.

The definition for resilient is this:

re·sil·ient | \ ri-ˈzil-yənt \ characterized or marked by resilience: such as

a: capable of withstanding shock without permanent deformation or rupture

b: tending to recover from or adjust easily to misfortune or change

I think that defines so many of us as we've dealt with the changes and hardships of a global pandemic.

As a local sports anchor/reporter, I've seen so much of this in high school athletes.

Team after team, coach after coach, any of them that I talk to all say how well their athletes have adjusted and taken the changes, cancellations, postponements, disappointments, in stride.

Are they upset? Of course. Are they tired of it? Sure. But are they going to give up? No way.

After every blow they've had, every coach and athletic director has said that these kids have just wanted to work harder and be better for when their time comes.

The amount of stress and hit this has taken on mental health is really unimaginable. Even for adults, this has been extremely tough. Now imagine being a high school athlete, who doesn't know what we do or has experienced what we have. They don't have the emotional tools to fully deal with these things, but here they are doing it.

I leave practices and games I've been at overly inspired by the way I have seen these kids handle this terrible time.

Here's one of my favorite quotes about being resilient:

- “Resilience is accepting your new reality, even if it's less good than the one you had before. You can fight it, you can do nothing but scream about what you've lost, or you can accept that and try to put together something that's good.”