Adaptation, Coping, and Resilience

Part of my reflection submitted in the course "Explorations in Individual and Family Resilience"

When I took a course on philosophy of science in college, one of the things that fascinated me was the theory of natural selection. Proposed by Charles Darwin after his visit and observations in Galapagos Islands, this theory states that in an organism’s struggle for existence, favorable variations would tend to be preserved while unfavorable ones are in turn destroyed, thus leading to the formation of new species. The phrase “survival of the fittest and elimination of the unfit” is often cited as part of this theory. When an organism is able to adapt to the changes in the environment, this is able to survive longer. However, if it failed to cope with these changes, chances are that such organism will dwindle in number, or worse, cease existence.

Part of this process of adaptation involves growth or development of mechanisms that protect the well being of an organism, or out of the natural desire to preserve oneself in the face of danger. Some animals develop horns in order to defend themselves from predators and to protect their own territory or offspring. Carnivores develop strong teeth in order to chew their food properly. Tools are made in order to make processes better. However, they can also be used for the wrong purpose. Horns can be used to harm others, strong teeth can pierce into flesh and bone, and tools can be employed for the wrong purposes.

Human persons confront new and sometimes difficult situations and circumstances. In the face of a strong current, one may swim through the storm or simply sink and succumb to the raging waters. In psychology, there is such a thing as “coping strategies” where human persons change or modify their behavioral patterns in order to go beyond stresses and conflicts, whether internal or external to the person. Some coping strategies may help the person to overcome the stressful situation while others might lead the person to run away from the problem only to confront a bigger and more complex face to the same problem in the long run.

Adapting and coping are processes and experiences that help the human person go through the difficulties and challenges of life. Indeed, there are healthy and helpful ways of going through a stressful situation, while there are also destructive patterns that may be created in attempting to get around the hurdles of everyday living. Listening to the story of Mykey last week and reading the various “stories from a weekend” helped me look back at my own experiences of resilience, adaptation, and coping.

Conflicts and challenges are part of our human experience. Indeed, there are various ways of adapting and coping through the daily stresses of life, and such are actually marks and manifestations of resilience. One can cope with challenges through another medium, which can in turn help the person transcend and even go beyond the difficult situation. Yet there are also mechanisms that can chain and hold the person down the weight of his own bondage. In the end, discernment will help us choose, pursue, and employ the positive, constructive and proactive ways of coping with stresses and conflicts in life.