Bouncing Back: Rewiring Your Brain for Maximum Resilience and Well-Being by Linda Graham defines resilience as "the capacity to respond to pressures and tragedies quickly, adaptively, and effectively." She explores the role of neuroplasticity in recovering our resilience and suggests inner work to help us bounce back.
Enlightened Aging: Building Resilience for a Long, Active Life by Eric B. Larson and Joan DeClaire looks at what animates and sustains those who live long and active lives. At the core of this book is the examination of resilience which Larson defines as "the ability to grow stronger in the face of adversity and stress."
Excellent As You Are: A Woman's Book of Confidence, Comfort, and Strength by Sue Patton Thoele presents a series of encouraging essays designed to spur female self-esteem. Here you will find meditations on irrigating arid situations, calming the inner sea, viewing discipline as desirable, and growing through loss.
Fast Future: How the Millennial Generation Is Shaping Our World by David Burstein describes how Millennials have a resilience that has grown out of their experience of the 9/11 attacks and two wars. The author defends his age cohort as engaged, optimistic, and geared up to handle the crises of the future.
Fearless At Work: Timeless Teachings for Awakening Confidence, Resilience, and Creativity in the Face of Life's Demands by Michael Carroll uses slogans to stir the spirit to greater courage, resilience, and meaning. Some examples are recognize fear, command gracefully, and face the fierce facts of life.
The Gift of Adversity: The Unexpected Benefits of Life's Difficulties, Setbacks, and Imperfections by Norman E. Rosenthal has 52 chapters, each containing a story and its truth or lesson: such as accept adversity as a catalyst to creativity and recognize that although troubles come, they also move on.
The Gifts of Imperfection: Let Go of Who You Think You're Supposed to Be and Embrace Who You Are by Brené Brown explores the qualities we need for a wholehearted life. Brown discovers that resilience is most often forged in people who believe in a power greater than themselves and feel grounded in love.
How to Survive Change … You Didn't Ask For: Bounce Back, Find Calm in Chaos, and Reinvent Yourself by M. J. Ryan points out that resisting change drains our energies and deflates our spirits. It is better to train ourselves in the art of resilience, adaptability, and agility -- skills explained in the book.
Hunting for Hope: A Father's Journeys by Scott Russell Sanders shares an engaging series of "memories, images, hunches, and tales, all drawn from the muddle of ordinary life." Here is the perfect gift to give new parents or to ardent youth who yearn for reasons to keep on keeping on.
It's Not the End of the World: Developing Resilience in Times of Change by Joan Borysenko gives us wise counsel on making the most of uncertainty, suffering, and financial setbacks. Resilience leads us to accept reality, believe that life is meaningful, and develop a penchant for creative improvisation.
Just One Thing: Developing a Buddha Brain One Simple Practice at a Time by Rick Hanson is an incredibly handy and accessible compilation of humanizing practices. We can transform our lives, Hanson reveals, by consciously using our minds to change our brains.
The Lakota Way of Strength and Courage: Lessons in Resilience from the Bow and Arrow by Joseph M. Marshall III brims over with Native American wisdom. Essays and short stories consider the importance of the bow and arrow, the role of elders, and the need for resilience in surviving difficulties.
Life Gets Better: The Unexpected Pleasures of Growing Older by Wendy Lustbader proclaims that it is time to throw out our negative assumptions about aging and listen instead to those who have experienced a flourishing as they age. As we get older, we can become mentors of resilience.
Pebbles of Wisdom from Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz edited by Arthur Kurzweil compiles an impressive collection of insights into God, the seeker, the children of Israel, Torah, the trials of life, and guidance. A key lesson: Suffering has to be received and sometimes seen as a gift.
Reduced to Joy by Mark Nepo is a harvest of the meanings and memories of a rich and resilient life, criss-crossed with pain and elation.The book provides good medicine for the soul and the spirit in these harsh and hard times.
The Resilience Dividend: Being Strong in a World Where Things Go Wrong by Judith Rodin is a timely book on the need for individuals and organizations to handle shocks, stresses, and surprises. It outlines five characteristics of this resilience: being aware, diverse, integrated, self-regulating, and adaptive.
The Resilient Spirit by Polly Young-Eisendrath examines the lives of four resilient individuals who have made the most of their difficulties: quadriplegic radio talk show host Dan Gottlieb, peace activist Joanna Macy, psychoanalyst June Singer, and Zen teacher Roshi Philip Kapleau.
Spiritual Resilience: 30 Days to Refresh Your Soul by Robert J. Wicks sees resilience as bouncing back in a way that may result in deeper knowledge of both God and self. Practical questions and exercises help us readjust our plans for the future and find the courage and the flexibility to improvise our days.
Surviving Survival: The Art and Science of Resilience by Laurence Gonzales takes a hard look at the stories of survivors of war traumas, a bear attack, the sudden death of a child, and more. The survivors' challenge is to heal their bodies and minds so they can move into the future with hope.
What Would You Do If You Knew You Could Not Fail? How to Transform Fear into Courage by Mary Beth Sammons and Nina Lesowitz shares inspiring stories about brave people who stood up for their ideals and spoke truth to power and those who have faced adversity and developed a new resiliency.
The Woman's Book of Resilience: 12 Qualities to Cultivate by Beth Miller examnies 12 qualities evident in those who thrive in the face of upsets. Among them are connecting with others, developing special gifts, transforming resentments, practicing forgiveness, and having a good sense of humor.
