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Promise me you’ll always remember: You’re braver than you believe,
and stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think.
-Christopher Robin to Pooh (by A. A. Milne)
The above quote brings to mind this month’s character trait – Resilience, defined as:
The ability to recover strength, determination, spirit, flexibility and good humor in the face of change, mistakes and trials.
In our ever-changing and sometimes scary world, the quality of resilience is essential for adapting to life’s challenges. We want our kids to be able to persevere through adversity, learn and grow from it, and come out stronger. Life has a way of providing plenty of opportunities to work on resilience, doesn’t it? Despite wanting to shield our kids from hardships, it benefits them to experience small failures in a loving and supportive environment, and to see that they can recover and overcome.
Studying history gives us many excellent examples of people who showed resilience (or didn’t), and our readings about determined people and turbulent times can spark many discussions about this character trait. From abolitionists to Abraham Lincoln to Gulliver to the Wright Brothers, this trimester we will encounter characters and events that show us the need for and the power of resilience.
Our high schoolers are currently reading Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand. We highly recommend this page-turner of a book to parents looking for a good read – it’s an amazing true story that exemplifies this month’s character trait.
We will leave you today with a video to watch with your kids if you'd like, just for fun, of John Lithgow reading Oh the Places You’ll Go by Dr. Seuss. There is real wisdom in this classic children’s book, and it speaks to the quality of resilience on the journey of life:
How do you nurture resilience in your family? Let’s encourage each other by sharing our thoughts about building character. Leave a comment below and be entered into this month’s drawing to win 2 Regal movie tickets! Drawing ends next Friday, April 19th.
