When it comes to movies, I love watching those that relate to maintaining a positive outlook on life. Who can forget Forrest Gump, sitting on the bench waiting for his bus, musing “Mama always said life was like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get”. This saying has become part of the modern lexicon because it contains a simple truth – when it comes to chocolates, you really don’t know what you’re going to get. Some might be hard, some might be soft; some might have the flavour you like, while others taste nothing like the description on the inside of the box.

Mrs. Gump was right on the mark in comparing this to life in general – the outcome of any given situation will not always be to our liking, or turn out how we think it should. Success is certainly sweet and failure can often leave a very bitter taste in our mouths. But, as with the box of chocolates, we should learn to swallow the disappointment and move onto the next one, ever-hopeful that this one will turn out to be better.

More recently, my family and I went to the cinema to see the new movie ‘Eddie the Eagle’. This story is a fine example of one man’s courage in responding to disappointment after disappointment in his quest to be a Winter Olympian. For me, it brought to the surface the reality that, by nature, life is full of ups and downs and highs and lows, and that the amount of enjoyment and excitement you take from it often equates to how much of yourself you put into it. It is important for us as parents and educators to equip our children with the necessary resilience to cope with life’s little surprises and disappointments.

Resilience

At O.L.D. we try to instil in our students the capacity to have a go, keep trying, and never give up. Resilient learners persist where others give up. Notions such as talent, ability and intelligence all plant in students’ minds the idea that learning is a fixed commodity, and that their performance reflects something about their level of capability that is unchangeable. It is far more preferable to create a culture in which students are taught that almost anyone can learn virtually anything, as long as they persist long enough. As knowledge expands rapidly over the next few decades, and young people need to become lifelong learners to adapt to an increasingly intricate and ever-changing world, it is vital that we create young people who are adept, flexible and resilient learners.

Emotional resilience is also an important value for children to learn. They cannot be first all the time, win everything they try, be selected for every event or be the best at everything they do. Sometimes they will miss out on things and sometimes they will get upset about this. Generally they can quickly get over these disappointments, forget about the issue and move on. As parents and educators, it is also important for us to support them through these times and to turn these events into learning experiences to help make our children stronger and more able to cope with life’s disappointments. Try to focus on the positives, celebrate the good times and help them learn from these disappointments. This can only make our children more resilient, better risk takers and more confident to take on the challenges of life’s ups and downs and little surprises.

Something to think about

Life doesn’t get easier or more forgiving; we get stronger and more resilient.