“That what doesn’t finish us, only makes us stronger.”
I heard an interesting term whilst listening into a webinar the other day about life post-Covid19 and ways of dealing with the aftermath of this pandemic. The term was post-traumatic growth and it stuck in my head for the rest of that day. It was enlightening to hear that usually people would experience post-traumatic stress after something as tragic as this pandemic. But using the concept of post-traumatic growth turns a positive perspective onto the challenges and trauma faced from this pandemic.
We aren’t the same people we were before this pandemic, would you agree? Most of us would see ourselves more resilient, stronger and maybe even a different person from who we were four months ago. We have undergone a tragic transition; a transition that we didn’t plan or prepare for but we had to solider through and grow to survive.
For growth to happen change needs to happen and change is something some people struggle with. Some people think and talk about it and even plan for changes but actually putting them into action becomes another story. It’s easy to say that comfort becomes more attractive that the unknown for these people. And it is this attraction to comfort that will potentially hold them back from growing. When we are no longer able to change our situation we are then challenged to change our situation ourselves – and, that results us with growth!
So what is post-traumatic growth exactly?
Post-traumatic growth refers to positive personality change following traumatic life events.
Would you say you’ve experienced this? Do you feel like you’ve changed in a positive way since the pandemic? Have you grown in a specific area that you’ve wanted to explore or realised now you had a new interest in something? Have you developed a clearer self-understanding of what your life perspective is? Have you found a positive meaning on things that you've never had before? Have you learned something new about yourself and your surroundings during this time?
Focus on your Strengths
A lot of us would have experienced the above or have answers floating around our minds to the questions above. You could have experienced post-traumatic growth prior to this pandemic but grown further from this unexpected time. Without realising and unintentionally we have changed – life has changed us.
Whether it’s a change of life perspective, or trying something new and different career wise or maybe taking up an unusual hobby, to maybe reaching out to close ones more often or to someone you lost in touch with, or even generally revamping your lifestyle. However big or small we’ve all strengthened and grown in different ways that we should see as positive change for our lives.
So looking from my personal experience, I feel I have experienced post traumatic growth from this pandemic. I have grown to learn within the last four months of what and who I truly want to give my energy to in my life. Sounds a bit broad, doesn't it? Maybe it’s my self-reliance that has grown but I have learnt a great sense of who brings goodness to my life as well as what do I truly want to focus on at this present moment. And I can say the answers to those questions are not the same as they were four months ago.
I appreciate my life differently and my priorities have changed – what is important to me has changed and most of all the value I give to each day in my life is full of appreciation over the constant need to run in the race of life.
Post-traumatic growth is a term that will bring some hope and positivity in the aftermath of this pandemic. It’s finding your potential, your strength and your growth through using the pain, the struggle and the hardship of life at the moment. Many people have seen their loved ones leave them forever in the past tragic few months, so let’s all appreciate the goodness in our lives at the moment and have faith in our growth to continue surviving this pandemic.
