Human resilience can at times look like it’s lost, with so many tragedies, both accidents and sometimes in malice touching our lives on what can feel like a non-stop roller coaster of hurt, we can sometimes despair at the world around us. Ugly behaviours and words are rife and many people feel that the human race has plummeted to all time lows in terms of compassion.

It’s never far away these days, its on the news, on our smart phone apps and tablets, its in newspapers and daily rags, it can feel there is no escaping the barrage of bad news. Bad and sad news sells and it can feel like there is a constant attack on the human race by the press. Then along comes another thread, human resilience.

When we make a conscious choice to look for and see the human resilience which is innate in all of us, the good in the world and its people, the evidence is all around us. Within every tragedy there are inspirational individuals and entire groups of people who have made a conscious choice and got in touch with their human resilience to do good and positive things in the midst of carnage and chaos.

I am thinking of the brave men and women paid and unpaid, who came to the rescue and support of the victims of recent terror attacks in Manchester at the Ariana Grande concert, the people who put their lives on the line for their fellow human beings during and after the London Bridge atrocity. The people who came to the aid of the Grenfell Tower fire victims. The evidence of heroism and love for human-kind is all around us, we just have to open our eyes to see it.

So a useful therapeutic tool to help us see the world in a more balanced and healthy way, is to acknowledge when we hear or read bad news, to actively seek out the good news, the human resilience which is there and just needs a little look outside the box to see. We in this country are great and we love real life heroes, thankfully they are all around us.

Encourage and grow your self belief in your ‘self’ and those around you.

“Resilience is, of course, necessary for a warrior. But a lack of empathy isn’t”
Phil Klay

Paul Parkin – online counsellor & life coach.

If you have been effected in any way at some of the recent atrocities, you can get free support and help from www.victimsupport.org.uk and from www.samaritans.org