How to Bounce Back from Adversity/Never Give Up
Wednesday, October 16th, 2013
Article 1: How to Bounce Back from Adversity
In this article they discuss a person’s reaction to adversity and how they should handle the situation. There are two feelings you can get when adversity strikes. You will either be in an emotional state of deflation (feel like a hero, able to fix any problem single-handedly). Or you will be in the other emotional state, which is, victimization (helpless bystander). Studies show that the ability to bounce back from adversity hinges on untangling a person’s embedded beliefs about it and shifting how they respond. There are 4 lenses and 3 types of questions you should ask yourself. The four lenses are Control (how much control we think we can have), Impact (can we turn things around), Breadth (how to limit the damages) and duration (how long will this last). The types of questions you should ask are specifying (helps you identify ways to intervene), visualizing (helps shift their attention from the adverse event towards a positive outcome) and collaborating questions (reach out to others for joint problem solving).
• When adversity strikes which emotion do you normally feel, deflation or victimization?
• Is it better to handle adversity alone or with others?
Article 2: Never Give Up
This article is about a man named Dr. Ben Cason. He was raised in the housing project in downtown Detroit. After his father left him, his brother and Mother, Sonya Carson, when he was 8, he was lost and heartbroken. The boys struggled early in school but Ms. Carson, who only had a 3rd grade education, knew that education was the key to success. She took the TV away and gave them library cards. She made them leave book reports on the table weekly. She would put a red check on them signifying her approval, but they did not know she could not read until they were adults. This helped him become the great doctor he is today. At 33 he was the youngest...