How is 2025 treating you? On New Year’s Day, I woke up, went downstairs, greeted the dogs and proceeded to get down on the floor to stretch my back, as is my usual routine. The dogs love this because they can lean over me, snuggle on top of me, or hump my legs, depending on their mood. Our larger dog really likes to dangle her too-long ears in my face and get as close to me as possible, as she hovers over the top of me. So I didn’t think much of it when she started to do this, until the drool started. That’s strange. She doesn’t usually do that. And then the telltale rumble in her stomach that causes every pet owner to panic. I rolled over just in time as she threw up right where I had been. I thought, “Okay 2025, I see how this is going to be.”

In December, I chuckled at those memes that said things like “Goodbye 2024, you weren’t a good year,” because really the calendar changes, but it’s not actually a clean slate. The stressors are still the stressors, and the problems are still the problems. Now, I think our natural inclination is to hope nothing bad happens, and of course that’s a good thing, to have hope. But the reality is, something bad probably will happen. What I’m realizing lately is I have to hope for the good, relish the good, but I also have to open my mind to the bad. I think this is resilience.

There is so much research about resilience in positive psychology. This ability to adapt and recover from difficult situations is something some of us do easily, and some of us struggle with. It’s so easy to just fall apart, and that’s totally okay, it’s the picking ourselves back up part that can be so draining, that can seem so impossible.

For the past three months my little dog has been so sick, some sort of chronic liver disease. It’s been a constant state of hyper-vigilance as we monitor what she eats, what she doesn’t, what she poops, and pees, and all the details about that. And then there’s the heartbreaking moments she has collapsed, and we’ve raced her to the emergency vet. We love that little dog. We rescued her about six years ago from 10 months sitting in a cage at a local shelter. She gets better, and then worse again. To be honest, I’m feeling emotionally depleted. Last night, I was trying to give her one of her pills and she kept pushing it out with her tongue, I just stopped trying, and started crying. It’s a lot.

I know this is one of those times I have to take a step back, take a deep breath, and remind myself I’ve done this before. I’ve had plenty of sick dogs to care for over the years. I have to focus on what’s going right, instead of what’s going wrong. Yes she’s sick, but we are all stepping up and loving her with a ferocity, and a kindness, that fills my heart and makes me so proud of my family.

None of us knows what 2025 has in store for us, and let’s all hope for the best, but realize the worst isn’t out of the question. We can all carry on knowing that life’s vomit might be aimed at our faces, but we CAN roll out of the way, just in time. Or not. We can only do our best with hope, and love, and gratitude.

Have you ever noticed that people react to life events in different ways? While some become overwhelmed by everyday hassles, others react positively to the most challenging experiences. This is where the study of psychological resilience comes in handy.

The study of psychological resilience aims to understand why it is that some people can withstand (or even thrive on) difficult life events. Psychologists define psychological resilience as “a dynamic process encompassing positive adaptation within the context of significant adversity.” In other words, a psychologically resilient person can quickly bounce back from adversity and positively adapt to the new and often challenging demands of the situation.

Psychological resilience has been identified both as a personality trait and as a process that changes over time. From a trait perspective, people differ in their general ability to deal with adversity. They may be born with a more adaptable personality, or due to adverse life experiences over the course of a lifetime, they may develop a personality trait of resilience that enables them to better deal with life challenges. From a personality trait perspective, people who possess the resiliency trait tend to bounce back (or even bounce forward) after all types of adversity.

From a process perspective, resilience is seen as a dynamic process that is dependent on the circumstances. Thus, while a person may react positively to adversity at one point in their life, it does not mean that this person will react in the same resilient way in other adverse moments of their life. In this way, a person’s resilience may alter if circumstances change. This may explain why you or someone you know can bounce back quickly from certain adverse experiences, yet find it difficult to bounce back from others.

The good news is that even if you weren’t born with the personality trait and you don’t currently have a process for resiliency, you can improve your psychological resilience with the practice of savoring. Research shows that although resilience is typically associated with a person’s ability to effectively deal with negative life events, resilience can also result from a practice of effectively dealing with positive events. For instance, studies show that having a higher capacity to savor the moment predicted lower levels of emotional decline. This suggests that the practice of savoring may be a helpful way to cope with life’s challenging demands. Think of it this way, the positive emotions that emerge from savoring can help offset the experience of negative emotions created by stressful events.

In fact, positive psychology states that savoring positive experiences has been shown to be the most beneficial for people who experience fewer daily positive events. In this way, savoring is linked to psychological resilience, which is linked to improved physical and emotional wellbeing. So start savoring today!