ABSTRACT
One don't have to invite adversity into his/her life in order to develop greater resilience such as leaving his/her job to see how well he/she cope with being unemployed. When the author was running resilience-building courses in various organisations, one of the activities he set for the participants was called 'Variable resilience'. As he pointed out to the various groups, one's resilience skills don't transfer automatically from any situation to another in an unbroken chain of effective coping. If faced and dealt with successfully constructive response increases both the person's natural reserves of resilience and her confidence in facing other situations previously perceived as threatening and avoided if possible. If the emphasis in one's life is on feeling comfortable whenever possible, he/she will probably be avoiding unpleasant or difficult situations that require his/her attention. The 'discomfort practice' helps to change one's view of him/herself as more capable and stronger than he/she imagined.
