In my last post, “Epiphanies & Shifting Habits” I referred to John Haidt’s book “The Happiness Hypothesis.” I am going back to his book again because I had it top of mind with the memorials of the 9/11 tragedy this week. There is a whole chapter called “The Uses of Adversity” that is full of interesting research; he uses the term, “post traumatic growth” to describe people who grow and thrive more after a tragic event.
Of course, no one willingly wishes for adversity and it does not always result in more thriving (some people are devastated and go into terrible post traumatic disorders). The research shows that natural optimists (data shows that we are born with a certain set point and we can shift it but some people are just born more pessimistic) are more likely to benefit and grow from adversity.
I thought it would be helpful to share Haidt’s information on how anyone can increase their chances of benefiting from adversity by taking certain steps:
1. Shift your set-point or “cognitive style” toward more optimism prior to adversity happening. He suggests doing this through “meditation, cognitive therapy, or even Prozac.” All three have been shown to make you more resilient and less likely to get pulled into a negative spiral of rumination. This step is important if you are not already a natural optimist. Personally, I have found that regular meditation (even just few minutes) has increased my resilience.
2. “Cherish and build your social network.” A few trusted people who will really listen to you and you can turn to for help in making sense or meaning out of a tragedy makes a huge difference in shifting to more thriving.
3. “Religious faith and practice can aid growth, both by directly fostering sense making and by increasing social support.” I have seen and read of the many benefits of growing your spiritual faith and how this can expand your ability to thrive.
4. In the months that follow a tragic event, start writing. Haidt refers to research by Jamie Pennebaker showing the power of writing for 15 minutes a day for several days. It is free writing about what happened, without imposing any structure. He suggests that before the last time writing, “answer these two questions: Why did this happen? What good might I derive from it?”
Even with taking these steps, adversity will be painful and difficult (otherwise it would be not be adversity). The good news is that you can take some deliberate steps to significantly increase your chances of rebounding from it with an even higher level of thriving than you had before it happened.
A personal note about the picture: This sunrise was a nice reminder of the breathtaking beauty that can arise in the midst of challenges for me this week. The adversity of aggressive cancer and then aggressive chemo therapy to beat it many years ago continues to have its physical after-affects on one of the most important people in my life and he continues to show his incredible resilience at thriving. I am grateful for such a strong example of thriving after adversity.