Tip#47: Resilience - Your Hidden Super Power!

Motivating Themes:
• Optimism
• Strengths/Skills/Gifts

Wouldn't it be great to have a super power for being indestructible? One of the characters from the hit tv series Heroesis a high school cheerleader with this gift. The series shows ordinary people of all ages discovering they have a super power, hers involves the ability of spontaneous regeneration. They've shown her in car crashes, getting burned, falling from buildings, being impaled and getting her fingers mangled. She's survived it all.

X-Men

The popular character, Wolverine from the X-Mencomics and movies has a similar power of rapid healing. In the three X-Menmovies Wolverine is played by Hugh Jackman and you see him get cut deeply many times and instantly see the wound seal itself every time. Or when he is shot you see his body internally push out the bullet, stop the bleeding and then seal the wound cleanly.

Unbreakable

Bruce Willis plays a character in the film, Unbreakablewho is, of course, unbreakable. At first Willis's character doesn't want to believe he has this extraordinary power but later learns to see it as a gift. Director, M. Night Shyamalan, created a down to earth story out of a basic superhero concept for Unbreakablemaking super powers believable and possible within an ordinary family and setting. Being unbreakable is an amazing ability the main character finally accepts.

In a lot of ways I believe we have the mental equivalent of this super power within each one of us. Resilience is the name of that power. Resilience is defined as the ability to recover quickly from illness, change, or misfortune. Believing that you have that secret power is the first step to developing the confidence that nothing or no one can truly hurt you.

Visualizing the possibility is a powerful method to help you start believing in your resilience. Activate your imagination and you'll picture your hidden potentials. Here's a list of movies to inspire you:

A Beautiful Mind
is based on a true story about a man who perseveres despite a debilitating mental disorder.

Bridget Jones's Diary
is about a woman who survives embarrassing insults and societal pressures.

Cast Away
is about a man who survives years on a deserted island.

Cinderella Man
is based on a true story of a man surviving with a family during years in poverty.

The Contender
is about a woman who perseveres despite overwhelming public and political pressure and scrutiny.

Conversations With God
is based on a true story where a man survives homelessness and loss of purpose.

The Count of Monte Cristo
is about a wrongly convicted man perseveres despite hopeless, long term conditions imprisoned.

The Edge
is about an elderly man who survives in a northern wilderness.

Erin Brockovich
is based on a true story where a woman perseveres despite personality conflicts and corporate antagonists.

Lord of the Rings Trilogy
is about a group of diverse individuals who survive ongoing and relentless mental, emotional and physical challenges.

Mr. Deeds Goes To Town
is about a small town man who survives emotional stress and public ridicule in a big city.

Mr. Smith Goes To Washington
is about a man who perseveres despite overwhelming opposition.

The Pianist
is based on a true story of a man surviving persecution and forced isolation.

The Pursuit of Happyness
is based on a true story where a man survives homelessness with a young child.

Rocky Balboa
is about a man who survives life's ongoing punches and pounding and the death of a loved one.

Shawshank Redemption
is about a wrongfully accused man who endures years of abuse in a prison.

Learning To Survive:

These movie examples have all helped me so much in many ways. To me all the main characters are super heroes in some way. They've helped me picture positive possibilities, given me strength to keep moving forward and lifted my spirits when my energy felt really low.

Movies helped unleash my resilience during my mid-life transition that began in 2000. I learned how to survive the loss of employment, loss of income, loss of purpose and the painful loss of my father. Movies always arrived when I needed them most and prodded me to persevere and recognize all my hidden abilities and strengths.

Extraordinary Possibilities

And it doesn't matter whether you are too old or young, big or small in order to have the power of resilience. That’s partly why the TV series Heroeshas become popular other than it's amazing special effects. Each episode shows examples of ordinary people young and old and of diverse ethnic backgrounds discovering awesome powers they had been born with. Let that exciting concept mirror your own extraordinary possibilities.

So explore the movies or other films you are drawn to. Sometimes you don't pick movies - they pick you. Be inspired by the movie hero's choices to keep going forward despite the harsh conditions they are placed in. Witness the pain they endure in order to persevere and accomplish their goals.

Let the stories trigger your dormant abilities, strengths and hidden powers of resilience. And next time, when you are put into difficult situations, you may be surprised at what you are capable of.

"It's hard for many people to believe that there are extraordinary things inside themselves, as well as others. I hope you can keep an open mind."
Unbreakable


Emmanuel Lopez
www.motivatorman.com
© Emmanuel Lopez 2007