Second look at “Resilience”

In my last From the Editor I gave the idea of ‘resilience’ a second place to ‘flourish’ as a driving force for our website content. As that was being published, I learned a lesson on the value of ‘resilience’ as a driving force for personal well-being.

In her book, “Super Better: A Revolutionary Approach to Getting  Stronger, Happier, Braver, and more Resilient — Powered by the Science of Games,” Jane McGonigal builds the case for resilience and living ‘gamefully.’

How’s that again … ‘science of games’ … ‘living gamefully’?

Think about it young and old, we all enjoy playing games … they offer a chance for lots of successes and failures … each an opportunity to learn, to get better, maybe even ‘super better’. Ms McGonigal takes the structure of well designed games to reframe the challenges and opportunities we face in life and backs it all up with sound science.

Her seven rules for living gamefully can be summarized as:

The related rules to “live game-fully” using the Super Better method are:
  1. Challenge yourself: There are thousands of ways to get happier, healthier, stronger, and braver. Decide what real-life obstacle you want to tackle, or what positive change you want to make first.
  2. Collect and activate power-ups: good things that reliably make you feel happier, healthier, or stronger
  3. Find and battle the bad guys: anything that blocks your progress or causes you anxiety, pain or distress
  4. Seek out and complete quests: simple, daily actions that help you reach your bigger goals
  5. Recruit your allies: friends and family members, who will help you along the way
  6. Adopt a secret identity: Pick a heroic nickname that highlights your unique personal strengths
  7. Go for an epic win: an awe-inspiring outcome that helps you be more motivated and less afraid of failure.

It looks like an enjoyable approach to life — at any age.

Check out her website: SuperBetter.com

Or, if you missed it on our Front Page, take 20 minutes to view her TED Talk, “The Game that can Give You 10 Extra Years of Life”

That might work for our members — at any age. Her take on ‘resilience’ sounds like fun to boot!

We are better together,

Jude Anders
Editor

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