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Life is full of many types of stress, some good and some bad. The Air Force recognizes the importance of keeping its Airmen fit to fight and twice a year hosts a resiliency day.
“Learning about and attaining comprehensive Airman fitness skills doesn’t mean you won’t experience adversity,” said Master Sgt. Jessie Batchelor, Airman & Family Readiness Center resiliency trainer. “CAF gives you the tools to buffer the adverse effects of stressful life events. By using a broader range of coping strategies, we experience less distress from stressful life events.”
This day is set apart in order to underline skill development that is important to keep Airmen mentally and emotionally fit. It focuses on the importance of the four pillars of wellness and potential challenges and changes that are likely to occur. It also works to reduce or eliminate common concerns of military life.
“What resiliency means to me is that no matter what adversity I face or how hard situations and times get, I know my sunshine will come,” said Mary Devitt, 86th Airlift Wing communication support coordinator. “It’s a belief in hope.”
The challenge is to both be aware of the problems and to draw upon the strengths of the person to help solve the issue, as well as to sincerely communicate the belief that one can overcome any problem.
“Everyone has good times and hard times,” Devitt said. “But how we handle our troubles is what makes us resilient. You have to believe in hope, believe that the future is going to be better. Today can be horrible, but by tomorrow, what happened yesterday is gone.”
People who are positively bonded to other people do better in life. This fact has been documented extensively by psychological and medical research. Reaching out to connect with someone or a group that is positive is another strategy to cope with adversity.
“This resiliency program is great, because in order to form a cohesive team, a supervisor needs to know their people, and people have to know each other,” Devitt said. “Even if you have a few isolators, these resiliency days help to build those avenues for conversation.”
Building a strong team not only affects one person but the whole group. Like a pyramid, one stone may depend on another, if one falls they all fall.
“As a classmate of mine once said, ‘Whether subordinate, peer, friend or family, would you rather talk someone off the ledge or give them the skills to prevent them from going out there?’” Batchelor said.
“Resiliency day gives a moment to stop, share and practice skills for everyday life.”
