Today we live in a very volatile world with the pandemic, war, economic uncertainty, social unrest, polarization of ideologies, lack of tolerance, climate change, amidst a looming fear of resurgence of COVID. Keeping these situations in mind, it is as important to develop a steely resolve in building resilience along with positivity and keep hoping for a better future.

Listed here are the five hallmarks of Resilience that can go a long way in helping one build a self-motivated and strong life.

1. Create a healthy routine: It is important to achieve healthy and balanced routine that allows adequate time to work, rest and socialize. Routines help build consistency and stability in life and impacts the mental and emotional well-being of a person and creates a positive environment. A well-planned routine helps you be productive, help to develop a purpose, and a sense of accomplishment in daily life.

2. Nurture close relationships: As a social and cognitive species, relationships, and the way we respond to situations matter a lot to our mental wellbeing and sense of security. The pandemic has already taught us the fragility of life and made us realize the value of friends and family. Nurturing relationships, either through in-person meetings or through video calling etc., is important to build a social and emotional support system. Bonds like these help one in building emotional strength, resilience, and hope, in the face of gloom and uncertainty.

3. Develop self-awareness: One of the most important aspects of building resilience and staying flexible and strong to manage life’s challenges is to develop self-awareness through the practice of meditation. It is as important to keep a check on one’s own mental health, as it is to assess one’s own strengths and weaknesses and work on them. In these grim times, it is easy to fall prey to negative thought patterns and surround oneself with constant thoughts of gloom or hopelessness resulting in destructive behavior. One need to be able to identify these patterns in time and embark on activities that may help ease these disturbances and start working towards a more constructive approach, with determination. And this cannot happen without being self-aware of our own reactions to the environment around.

4. Develop self-love and compassion: The next crucial step to build resilience is to create a positive relationship with oneself, through the practice of self-love and compassion. Eliminating deep rooted forms of guilt or negativities can hamper one’s idea of self-worth and thus become a hindrance to building real self-confidence. Practicing self-acceptance and spending some alone time daily consciously helps reduce negative, self-sabotaging thoughts and patterns and can go a long way in creating intrinsic strength. And these can be done by cultivating a new hobby or engaging in positive social conversations and build a sense of growth. Self-help groups, volunteering, bonding with someone who might have gone through a similar trauma as you etc., can all be very motivating and helpful in practicing self-love. A proper focus on physical wellbeing through regular exercises, healthy diet, and a good sleep routine, are also an integral part of self-love.

5. Cultivate forgiveness: As much as self-love and compassion are important to build inner strength, so is love shown towards others. Our relationship with self is often reflected in our relationship with others. And forgiving friends, family, and others and not hold any grudges can go a long way in building positive engagement patterns throughout all human interactions, which in turn help nourish the mind with self- assured positivity, peace of mind and self-worth, while making the world a better place.

Storms do not last forever and being resilient helps you face and overcome your challenges.

Sameer Bhide is a stroke survivor and an author of an award-winning transformational memoir "One Fine Day" in which he shares his experiences and lessons learned which helped him overcome his adversities. He wanted to help people facing adversities and found a way to write his memoir while recovering. Sameer is originally from India and has lived in the USA since 1990. You can connect with Sameer at www.sameerbhide.com.