This week’s video in the resiliency series by psychologist Mick Lynch is The F Word and it might not be the same F word you are thinking of. Resiliency is about being able to cope with a crisis or issue in life and being able to quickly recover and grow from the situation.
In the video, he starts off by talking about the F word, which nobody likes to hear, say or talk about. The F word is…failure. This is a word that comes up sometimes in life because everybody fails, but not everybody likes to admit it.
When the word “fail” comes to mind, most people might think about school. Failing a test, quiz, assignment, etc. but there are other things in life that might cause failure such as relationships, goals or at a task. This word is almost always seen as negative.
Photo by: Kelsa Katzfey ’21
It might seem like the worst thing that could happen at the time, but there is some good that comes from failing. We learn a valuable lesson of what to do next time and how we can improve. Failing is inevitable and since nobody can be perfect, everybody fails and that’s ok.
I have failed multiple times in life. It’s hard to just brush it off and see the lesson from it right away. However, practicing looking at a failure in a different light can help. Try to see the positive side or the lesson in the failure. For example, I once failed a Spanish quiz and thought I would fail the whole course. Instead of dropping the class and telling myself I couldn’t do it, I just studied more the next time, talked to my professor for help and ended up getting a much better grade.
Use your failures and mistakes in life to grow and do better the next time. Ask yourself these two questions; what did I learn? And how can I improve? That is how you can be a resilient warrior.
For more information about how to deal with tough life situations or for confidential help, visit the WSU Counseling Services website or call 507-457-5330 to make an appointment.
