the power of resilience
written by Vanessa Herrera Santiago, an ellement collective™ teen intern & founding member
Have you ever felt so tired of doing something that you just want to give up and be free? I’d guess that maybe you’ve felt that way more than once and honestly, it sucks. The feeling of disappointment is one of the worst things a teenager can experience since we are usually struggling with so many things and handling negative outcomes just makes everything worse. Nevertheless, let me share with you two important lessons I’ve learned since the beginning of the pandemic; the first one is that what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, and the second one is that it’s hard to defeat someone that never gives up. These two phrases have very important meanings that personally remind me of the power of resilience.
Everyone has faced obstacles that have challenged them in ways no one can possibly understand unless they have experienced something similar, and each time an obstacle is overcome, resilience is built. If you think you are not resilient enough, just think about all those times when you were having a really hard time but still you managed to get through.
Personally, at the beginning of my teenage years I struggled a lot with the changes puberty did to my body. I felt that everything about me was changing and I just didn’t like anything about it. There was a time where I just wanted to go away and isolate myself from everything and everyone, but something inside me didn’t let me give up. It took me months but little by little I started accepting that some things I cannot change but what I can change is my attitude towards them. I started focusing on others things that were actually under my control and little by little I began realizing that each personal battle I overcame made me stronger.
Now that I’m almost 19 years old, and I remember those hard moments of my teenage years, I feel proud that I was able to keep fighting even when everything seemed awful. I feel proud because I didn’t give up and because I learned to overcome obstacles by myself since all my battles I faced them alone.
Vanessa at her high school graduation in 2021
I guess the point I’m trying to make is that life isn’t easy and it shouldn’t be because tough situations are what make you grow. Adversity helps you develop resilience and critical thinking since things won’t always go as you want them to, and the sooner you accept that, the sooner you’ll move on instead of thinking over and over about past situations.
Embrace challenges and remember that when life puts you through tough times don’t say “why me?”, say “try me”, because it’s better to not only accept, but also like hard times rather than feel pity about ourselves. Believe me when I tell you that your older version of yourself will be proud of you for not giving up and trying one more time, even when nobody believes in you.
“The only person you need to believe in yourself is you, since only you know what you’ve been through and also why you do what you do. ”
If you learn not to give up after failing once, or twice, you’ll develop a greater resilience and confidence that will allow you to try harder things you would have never thought of trying before due to self-doubt and fear of failure. Each time you fail, think of the good things, such as the new experience and lessons learned, rather than thinking that you are not good enough.
Almost nothing is obtained the first time and the reason for it is because life needs to see who really wants it, since people who really want something, will go all out to have it. It’s not going to be easy because if it were easy, everybody would do it. A resilient person isn’t built from one day to another. It takes courage, optimism, perseverance, but more importantly, it takes trust and confidence in oneself.
Learn to believe in yourself because only then you’ll dare to step out of your comfort zone and embrace challenges that will help you increase your resilience.
Vanessa Herrera Santiago
{ellement collective™ teen intern & founding member}
I am Vanessa, I am 19 years old and I live in Monterrey, Mexico. I love being a Girl Guide and I am passionate about learning and developing professionally. My goal is to make a significant difference in the world through social actions.