7 | O akville B eaver | T hursday,S eptem ber 26,2019 insidehalton.com LUNCH AT ALLEN'S2019 Tourshantero.co m Murray McLauchlan Ian Thomas Cindy Church Marc Jordan Sunday, October 6 @ 7:30 pm - Oakville Centre for the PerformingArts: 905 815 2021 lu nc ha ta lle ns .c a TEST DRIVE Get up to speed with the latest "virtually invisible" hearing aid technology! Call to book your 21 DAY TRIAL FREE BEHIND THE EAR Behind-the-Ear models hide behind the auricle (the visible part of your ear) and have a thin clear tube that runs into the ear canal. Promo Code NSP-TDRV-OAKB A comprehensive hearing assessment is provided to adults ages 19 and older at no cost. The results of this assessment will be communicated verbally to you. If you request a copy of the Audiological Report, a fee will apply. Child hearing tests are conducted at select locations for a fee, please contact us formore information. Please see clinic for details. Offer not valid in Quebec. TESTDRIVE this hearing aid today! Offer expires September 30th 2019 Call us today to schedule your FREE TEST DRIVE. Did you know that the latest hearing aids are barely visible? That's why we're offering a FREE 21 day trial to anyone with hearing loss who would like to experience these new hearing aids for themselves. Bronte | 2419 Marine Drive Call Debbie at 1-855-788-2068 Pud bySteveNease There may not be an ac- tual 'r' in wellness, but there is an r-word that is crucial to our overall health and wellness: 'resil- ience.' Resilience is the ability to cope when faced with a challenge or stress and maintain or return to healthy functioning. It doesn't mean that we don't experience sadness, grief, anger, or other difficult emotions - it means that we can use our strengths to face challenges, cope in healthy ways, and ulti- mately learn from experi- ences. We may all strive forWe may all strive forW this, but what can trip us up? A psychologist named Martin Seligman cautions us about 3 P's: personaliza- tion, pervasiveness and permanence. Personalization - "It's all my fault" When bad things hap- pen, we tend to look for a cause and may blame our- selves in the absence of anything else. But analyz- ing our role in difficulty isn't constructive if it's something over which we did not have control. Over time, we can shift our thoughts to focusing on re- covery and coping rather than criticizing ourselves, or feeling bad about how others may be affected by something that was out of our hands. Pervasiveness - "Everything is terrible" Feelings of pervasive- ness take time and effort to manage, especially when the challenge is something that affects a number of areas in our life, such as the death of a loved one or the loss of a job. Resilience doesn't mean denying negative feelings and impacts - itfeelings and impacts - itf means accepting them as normal and coping in ways that help us to also experi- ence positive feelings and appreciate that though it may sometimes feel like it, not everything in our life is terrible. Permanence - "It will always be like this" Since we can't predict the future, it is tempting to assume that our present feelings will always befeelings will always bef there. If we're sad or anx- ious, we feel like we will al- ways be sad or anxious. What is often helpful is paying attention to the words we are using when thinking and talking about our feelings. For ex- ample, thinking "I will al- ways feel stressed" will be more difficult to deal with than "I am feeling stressed today." The first implies an overwhelming lifetime of stress to manage while the second suggests that things may change - may- be not right away or as soon as we would like, but healing can happen when we take the right steps and get the right support. Resilience is not an in- born, you-have-it-or-you- don't quality. It's some- thing we can develop over time and that we can all fo- cus on for our lifelong wellness. Melanie McGregor is the communications and advancement specialist at the Canadian Mental Health Association Halton Branch, which provides mental health/addiction community support and education. Visit www.hal- ton.cmha.ca for more information and follow @cmhahalton on Twitter. OPINION YOUROPINIONS SIGN UP FOR OUR WEEKLY NEWSLETTER AT INSIDEHALTON.COM THE 'R' IN 'WELLNESS' IS RESILIENCE IT'S THE KEY TO MENTAL HEALTH, WRITES MCGREGOR MELANIE MCGREGOR Column It doesn't mean that we don't experience sadness, grief, anger, or other difficult emotions - it means that we can use our strengths to face challenges, cope in healthy ways, and ultimately learn from experiences.