ABSTRACT
The resilient teenagers [realised] that their inner world requires as much skill as the external environment; they look for the rocks that shipwrecked them before … In that search, they are willing to look inward. (Hauser et al, 2006, p271)
About this life skill This skill means that you are able to think well under stress or when faced with a difficult decision, instead of rushing into impulsive ill-thought-out action. As Harold Macmillan aptly said, it is the ability to ‘hurry slowly’. The skill also involves being able to consider why you are reacting as you do – and sometimes overreacting – by referring to how painful past experiences might be colouring your perception of the present. This means a curiosity about your inner world and those of others. If you are self-aware and able to reflect in this way, you are far less likely simply to blame others for all the painful things that happen to you.
