We, humans, are social beings. In every aspect of our life, we depend on others. In order to use electricity, some people have to work to create it for us. You also don’t need to go to the forest and hunt for your food. You just go to the store with a variety of foods provided by work of others. Since we were born, we were taken care of. Our parents provided food and shelter. They did everything to satisfy all our needs. Going through life we accumulated friends. They helped us during the hard times and shared happiness during the better days. Social interaction is necessary both for our survival and for the quality of our lives.

Why we all need to develop our social resilience

If you’re regular reader of my blog posts, you already know how important resilience is. It determines our ability to overcome hardships and bounce back to life after our lowest falls. Our social network is in this moment crucial for us. Imagine how many people have attempted the most desperate act a person can do. Committed suicide because they had no one to support them. No one to give them a reason to go forward. I know, this is a very extreme case, but it’s happening every day. Many people suffer from depression, avoiding life, blaming themselves and others for their misfortune. Developing a healthy network of friends can literally save your life, help you to overcome any hardships life throws at you and make your happy days way happier.

Social networks slightly distort this reality. You might have hundreds of friends on facebook or over 500 connections on LinkedIN. It doesn’t make you a social person. How many people of those are your real friends, who will help you when you need them? I strongly encourage you to contact your closest friends today and let them know what they mean to you. Don’t do it because you’ll need them one day. But because you sincerely appreciate their presence in your life.

Social resilience as a movement in society

You might be surprised but social resilience doesn’t benefit only the life of an individual. It can strongly influence a whole community, region or even a country. One great example is Japan and its way of handling something terrifying as a Tsunami with all its implications. Japan became a leader in disaster preparations.

Social resilience helps communities to reduce the consequences of disasters, work together and achieve bigger aims.

3 qualities of interactions with others

As Bengel&Lyssenko wrote in 2012 Social relationships bring 3 main qualities:

• emotional support – this includes empathy and consolation
• practical support – any kind of physical help all the way to financial support
• informational support – information that can help people to solve their problems

Social Resilience can serve as a protection shield when stress and adversity strikes! Bengel & Lyssenko (2012)

So boost your resilience muscle today and reach out to somebody in your network and offer one of the three above mentioned qualities. What you are willing to give – will come back to you!

If you’re interested in an IT solution boosting your organization’s resilience, feel free to send me the message. My team and I designed Humanflex, a 90-day programme to rewire your brain so that you are able to connect to your inner strength when you need it.