““Bouncing back after bad stuff happens!” Bouncing back after bad stuff happens!”

- or -- or -

““I get knocked down, but I get up again!”I get knocked down, but I get up again!”

What does RESILIENCE What does RESILIENCE mean?mean?

RESILIENCERESILIENCE means having an means having an ability to ability to recoverrecover after something after something badbad has happened. has happened.

At a personal level, it can mean At a personal level, it can mean how longhow long it takes to feel it takes to feel betterbetter after an after an illnessillness, or to feel ok again , or to feel ok again after having a poor day at school.after having a poor day at school.

King Robert The BruceKing Robert The Bruce King Robert the BruceKing Robert the Bruce of of

Scotland was Scotland was defeateddefeated in in battlebattle..

As he was in danger, he As he was in danger, he found found safety safety by hiding in a by hiding in a cave, cave, where he stayed as where he stayed as he he recoveredrecovered from all he from all he had been through.had been through.

He was extremely He was extremely depressed and thought depressed and thought about about giving upgiving up the Scottish the Scottish throne and throne and running awayrunning away..

Photo by Flickr user David A G Wilson and reproduced under Creative Commons License

King Robert & The SpiderKing Robert & The Spider Legend has it that as Legend has it that as

Robert the Bruce sat Robert the Bruce sat thinking, he noticed thinking, he noticed a a spiderspider building building a weba web at at the mouth of the cave.the mouth of the cave.

The spider The spider kept fallingkept falling but but each timeeach time it it got up got up againagain and and continued continued with with building its web until it building its web until it was finished.was finished.

What happened next…What happened next…

Robert watched how the Robert watched how the spider spider perseveredpersevered..

He realised that the spider He realised that the spider did not give did not give upup, each time there was a problem , each time there was a problem he he picked himselfpicked himself up until he up until he succeededsucceeded..

Robert the Bruce went back to his Robert the Bruce went back to his troops and troops and tried againtried again. .

And he And he successfully successfully won back hiswon back his thronethrone!!

The famous moral of the tale The famous moral of the tale is….is….

““If at first you If at first you don’t succeed. don’t succeed. Try, try and Try, try and try again”try again”

Robert the Bruce learnt Robert the Bruce learnt about about resilienceresilience..

ResilienceResilience features in features in lots of other stories - lots of other stories - for example ‘The Three for example ‘The Three Little Pigs’, ‘Harry Little Pigs’, ‘Harry Potter’, and Potter’, and ‘Cinderella’.‘Cinderella’.

Can you think of some Can you think of some more?more?

Photo by Flickr user johnmuk and reproduced under Creative Commons License

Planet Earth – Resilient?Planet Earth – Resilient?

It’s not just characters in It’s not just characters in young children's stories young children's stories who need to be resilient.who need to be resilient.

What about Planet Earth, What about Planet Earth, threatened by climate threatened by climate change?change?

What about New Orleans, What about New Orleans, devastated by hurricanes devastated by hurricanes and floods?and floods?