Generally speaking, emotional resilience is when we are able to effectively cope with stressful or unexpected situations and crises.  When we build emotional resilience, we can access our innate inner strength that helps us rebound from a difficult setback or challenge.  Whether in the face of divorce, job loss, illness, or other stressful event, it can be difficult to remain emotionally resilient.  You might default to feeling helpless and anxious.  Or turn to numbing or addictive behaviors to help soothe difficult thoughts and emotions.

One powerful way we can build emotional resilience is by recognizing a simple truth imparted by a 1939 children’s movie.  I have to admit I was never a big fan of The Wizard of Oz.  I thought it was a strange movie – and too old timey.

But just recently, while struggling with a challenging decision, I was suddenly struck by a line from The Wizard of Oz.  It was the part towards the end of the movie after the “Wizard” was exposed as an ordinary man behind a curtain.  Dorothy feared she would never get home.  But just then Glinda the good witch suddenly appeared and offered powerful wisdom to Dorothy that we can all take to heart.

When Dorothy frantically asked Glinda to help her get home to Kansas, Glinda warmly assured her “you don’t need my help any longer, you’ve always had the power.”  When the scarecrow asked Glinda why she didn’t tell Dorothy that before, Glinda wisely noted that Dorothy “wouldn’t have believed her” because “she had to learn it for herself.”

If you watch the movie closely, you might notice that Dorothy “learned” of her “power” when she used her brain to release the Scarecrow from the pole, she used her compassionate heart to oil the Tin Man so he could move, and she used her courage in the face of fear when she slapped the Cowardly Lion to save Toto.

The truth is, as this wise old movie reminds us, we are inherently wise with infinite resources available to us when we take the time to quiet our active minds.  We have everything we need.  We don’t need to look outside ourselves to get what we truly want because we’ve had it all along.  This powerful knowledge alone can go a long way to building emotional resilience.

To further boost your emotional resilience, you might take just a few minutes each day to simply let your mind wander.  After all, it is often said that our most creative ideas come when taking a shower, washing dishes, or taking a walk.  Or you might journal or meditate, whatever works for you to access that inner “knowing.”  Make sure to note down ideas or actions you can take.

Building emotional resilience takes regular and repeated practice.  Because the more we access our innate creativity, compassion, courage, and connectedness, the more confidence we build in our intuition to guide us to the decisions and actions that serve our best interests.

Like Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz, when we follow our own “yellow brick road” and stay open to possibilities, we can learn for ourselves that we’ve always had the power.

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