Emotional Flexibility: How it Helps Us Resist Illness
INSIDE: Did you know that by having emotional flexibility, you can better resist illness? Let’s look at the different ways we can adapt and some research to back it up.
Emotional flexibility is a method of coping with what’s going on in our lives. Instead of being rigid, we are able to flow and bend.
When we cope, we change our immediate environment to help us feel whole and healthy.
Ways to Use Emotional Flexibility
There are several different ways to engage emotional flexibility…
Building a Support System
We can cope by broadening our social networks, forming a diverse set of friends, family, and colleagues so as to build a healthier balance of dependence and interdependence. This give us a greater sense of belonging, as well as a sense of safety and security.
Adapting & Changing Ourselves
We can also create changes by adapting --- that is, by changing ourselves to fit the world better. We can look inside ourselves and work to change qualities in ourselves so that we’re better able to withstand stresses and assaults from the outside world....
Research to Support Emotional Flexibility
Researchers looked at two groups of business executives. Both were highly stressed, but one group exhibited a high instance of illness, whereas the other group had no illnesses.
The scientists found that the individuals with high stress and no illness had the following:
A strong commitment to themselves
A vigorous attitude toward the world around them
They looked for meaning in the events that took place
They believed that they had some control over every situation
The executives who succumbed to illness, on the other hand, felt powerless, were nihilistic, and believed they had little or no control over what happened to them.
Final Thoughts
Healthy people accept change and view it as a challenge and an opportunity to grow. When faced with stress, they may feel hopeless and helpless for a moment, but they pick themselves up and go into action.
The key is balance.
