ABSTRACT
Anna Freud directed us to pay attention to the balance between the individual’s ego strengths and the tasks they face. As we look at some of our challenges, it seems important to keep sources of resilience in mind as well. This chapter suggests some ways human beings mine sorrow for its potentially healing properties. But can we will ourselves to be resilient? Can we decide to “fake” adjustment until we genuinely inhabit it? Can we recalibrate our hopes so they spur us on, no matter what is already lost? Questions about the nature of resilience are raised here so they may be further explored in subsequent chapters.
