After Sheryl Sandberg tragically lost her husband, she teamed up with her friend, Adam Grant, psychologist at the University of Pennsylvania, to write a book about recovery and resilience. Option B: Facing Adversity, Building Resilience, and Finding Joy is the story of Sandberg’s experience as an example of resilience after trauma, how her recovery was achieved, and how to employ these techniques on a macro level.
When interviewed by New York Magazine, Grant detailed the five elements of resilience identified in the book:
Increased personal strength — the realization that making it through a traumatic experience will make future traumas easier to handle;
Gratitude — appreciating what you have, by virtue of understanding loss;
Deeper relationships — building new, strong connections, especially with people who can identify with your loss;
More meaning in life — finding purpose, and feeling determined to help others in pain,
New possibilities — looking at the trauma as a potential gateway to new experiences and opportunities.
Grant defines joy as a discipline, one that demands practice and conscious effort. Finding gratitude and acknowledging blessings is how it starts.
