1 00:00:01,458 --> 00:00:05,934 So I'd like to start, if I may, by asking you some questions. 2 00:00:05,958 --> 00:00:09,684 If you've ever lost someone you truly love, 3 00:00:09,708 --> 00:00:11,684 ever had your heart broken, 4 00:00:11,708 --> 00:00:15,184 ever struggled through an acrimonious divorce, 5 00:00:15,208 --> 00:00:18,059 or been the victim of infidelity, 6 00:00:18,083 --> 00:00:19,893 please stand up. 7 00:00:19,917 --> 00:00:23,851 If standing up isn't accessible to you, you can put your hand up. 8 00:00:23,875 --> 00:00:25,768 Please, stay standing, 9 00:00:25,792 --> 00:00:28,143 and keep your hand up there. 10 00:00:28,167 --> 00:00:30,434 If you've ever lived through a natural disaster, 11 00:00:30,458 --> 00:00:32,476 been bullied or been made redundant, 12 00:00:32,500 --> 00:00:33,851 stand on up. 13 00:00:33,875 --> 00:00:37,101 If you've ever had a miscarriage, 14 00:00:37,125 --> 00:00:38,934 if you've ever had an abortion 15 00:00:38,958 --> 00:00:41,893 or struggled through infertility, 16 00:00:41,917 --> 00:00:43,518 please stand up. 17 00:00:43,542 --> 00:00:46,934 Finally, if you, or anyone you love, 18 00:00:46,958 --> 00:00:50,643 has had to cope with mental illness, dementia, 19 00:00:50,667 --> 00:00:53,143 some form of physical impairment, 20 00:00:53,167 --> 00:00:54,643 or cope with suicide, 21 00:00:54,667 --> 00:00:57,101 please stand up. 22 00:00:57,125 --> 00:00:58,976 Look around you. 23 00:00:59,000 --> 00:01:04,268 Adversity doesn't discriminate. 24 00:01:04,292 --> 00:01:06,184 If you are alive, 25 00:01:06,208 --> 00:01:10,059 you are going to have to, or you've already had to, 26 00:01:10,083 --> 00:01:12,684 deal with some tough times. 27 00:01:12,708 --> 00:01:14,917 Thank you, everyone, take a seat. 28 00:01:18,708 --> 00:01:22,559 I started studying resilience research a decade ago, 29 00:01:22,583 --> 00:01:25,934 at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. 30 00:01:25,958 --> 00:01:28,309 It was an amazing time to be there, 31 00:01:28,333 --> 00:01:30,726 because the professors who trained me 32 00:01:30,750 --> 00:01:37,143 had just picked up the contract to train all 1.1 million American soldiers 33 00:01:37,167 --> 00:01:41,768 to be as mentally fit as they always have been physically fit. 34 00:01:41,792 --> 00:01:43,059 As you can imagine, 35 00:01:43,083 --> 00:01:47,184 you don't get a much more skeptical discerning audience 36 00:01:47,208 --> 00:01:51,059 than the American drill sergeants returning from Afganistan. 37 00:01:51,083 --> 00:01:52,351 So for someone like me, 38 00:01:52,375 --> 00:01:55,893 whose main quest in life is trying to work out 39 00:01:55,917 --> 00:02:00,768 how we take the best of scientific findings out of academia 40 00:02:00,792 --> 00:02:03,559 and bring them to people in their everyday lives, 41 00:02:03,583 --> 00:02:07,184 it was a pretty inspiring place to be. 42 00:02:07,208 --> 00:02:09,393 I finished my studies in America, 43 00:02:09,417 --> 00:02:12,018 and I returned home here to Christchurch 44 00:02:12,042 --> 00:02:15,351 to start my doctoral research. 45 00:02:15,375 --> 00:02:17,726 I'd just begun that study 46 00:02:17,750 --> 00:02:20,726 when the Christchurch earthquakes hit. 47 00:02:20,750 --> 00:02:22,726 So I put my research on hold, 48 00:02:22,750 --> 00:02:26,434 and I started working with my home community 49 00:02:26,458 --> 00:02:31,059 to help them through that terrible post-quake period. 50 00:02:31,083 --> 00:02:33,059 I worked with all sorts of organizations 51 00:02:33,083 --> 00:02:36,518 from government departments to building companies, 52 00:02:36,542 --> 00:02:38,351 and all sorts of community groups, 53 00:02:38,375 --> 00:02:41,601 teaching them the ways of thinking and acting 54 00:02:41,625 --> 00:02:44,684 that we know boost resilience. 55 00:02:44,708 --> 00:02:47,643 I thought that was my calling. 56 00:02:47,667 --> 00:02:53,101 My moment to put all of that research to good use. 57 00:02:53,125 --> 00:02:55,934 But sadly, I was wrong. 58 00:02:55,958 --> 00:03:00,934 For my own true test came in 2014 59 00:03:00,958 --> 00:03:03,351 on Queen's Birthday weekend. 60 00:03:03,375 --> 00:03:06,143 We and two other families had decided 61 00:03:06,167 --> 00:03:10,059 to go down to Lake Ohau and bike the outs to ocean. 62 00:03:10,083 --> 00:03:12,101 At the last minute, 63 00:03:12,125 --> 00:03:15,184 my beautiful 12-year-old daughter Abi 64 00:03:15,208 --> 00:03:20,101 decided to hop in the car with her best friend, Ella, also 12, 65 00:03:20,125 --> 00:03:23,625 and Ella's mom, Sally, a dear, dear friend of mine. 66 00:03:25,000 --> 00:03:27,893 On the way down, as they traveled through Rakaia 67 00:03:27,917 --> 00:03:29,601 on Thompsons Track, 68 00:03:29,625 --> 00:03:33,184 a car sped through a stop sign, 69 00:03:33,208 --> 00:03:34,893 crashing into them 70 00:03:34,917 --> 00:03:37,583 and killing all three of them instantly. 71 00:03:39,292 --> 00:03:41,518 In the blink of an eye, 72 00:03:41,542 --> 00:03:45,226 I find myself flung to the other side of the equation, 73 00:03:45,250 --> 00:03:48,309 waking up with a whole new identity. 74 00:03:48,333 --> 00:03:50,601 Instead of being the resilience expert, 75 00:03:50,625 --> 00:03:53,684 suddenly, I'm the grieving mother. 76 00:03:53,708 --> 00:03:56,184 Waking up not knowing who I am, 77 00:03:56,208 --> 00:03:59,518 trying to wrap my head around unthinkable news, 78 00:03:59,542 --> 00:04:02,559 my world smashed to smithereens. 79 00:04:02,583 --> 00:04:07,434 Suddenly, I'm the one on the end of all this expert advice. 80 00:04:07,458 --> 00:04:08,768 And I can tell you, 81 00:04:08,792 --> 00:04:12,268 I didn't like what I heard one little bit. 82 00:04:12,292 --> 00:04:14,518 In the days after Abi died, 83 00:04:14,542 --> 00:04:20,351 we were told we were now prime candidates for family estrangement. 84 00:04:20,375 --> 00:04:22,643 That we were likely to get divorced 85 00:04:22,667 --> 00:04:25,559 and we were at high risk of mental illness. 86 00:04:25,583 --> 00:04:27,059 "Wow," I remember thinking, 87 00:04:27,083 --> 00:04:30,143 "Thanks for that, I though my life was already pretty shit." 88 00:04:30,167 --> 00:04:31,893 (Laughter) 89 00:04:31,917 --> 00:04:35,018 Leaflets described the five stages of grief: 90 00:04:35,042 --> 00:04:38,309 anger, bargaining, denial, depression, acceptance. 91 00:04:38,333 --> 00:04:40,684 Victim support arrived at our door 92 00:04:40,708 --> 00:04:46,375 and told us that we could expect to write off the next five years to grief. 93 00:04:47,292 --> 00:04:51,309 I know the leaflets and the resources meant well. 94 00:04:51,333 --> 00:04:52,934 But in all of that advice, 95 00:04:52,958 --> 00:04:56,559 they left us feeling like victims. 96 00:04:56,583 --> 00:04:59,143 Totally overwhelmed by the journey ahead, 97 00:04:59,167 --> 00:05:04,601 and powerless to exert any influence over our grieving whatsoever. 98 00:05:04,625 --> 00:05:08,768 I didn't need to be told how bad things were. 99 00:05:08,792 --> 00:05:12,768 Believe me, I already knew things were truly terrible. 100 00:05:12,792 --> 00:05:15,875 What I needed most was hope. 101 00:05:16,708 --> 00:05:21,309 I needed a journey through all that anguish, 102 00:05:21,333 --> 00:05:24,101 pain and longing. 103 00:05:24,125 --> 00:05:25,393 Most of all, 104 00:05:25,417 --> 00:05:31,143 I wanted to be an active participant in my grief process. 105 00:05:31,167 --> 00:05:34,351 So I decided to turn my back on their advice 106 00:05:34,375 --> 00:05:38,768 and decided instead to conduct something of a self-experiment. 107 00:05:38,792 --> 00:05:40,893 I'd done the research, I had the tools, 108 00:05:40,917 --> 00:05:44,059 I wanted to know how useful they would be to me now 109 00:05:44,083 --> 00:05:48,059 in the face of such an enormous mountain to climb. 110 00:05:48,083 --> 00:05:50,601 Now, I have to confess at this point, 111 00:05:50,625 --> 00:05:54,143 I didn't really know that any of this was going to work. 112 00:05:54,167 --> 00:05:56,601 Parental bereavement is widely acknowledged 113 00:05:56,625 --> 00:06:00,000 as the hardest of losses to bear. 114 00:06:01,500 --> 00:06:04,893 But I can tell you now, five years on, 115 00:06:04,917 --> 00:06:07,518 what I already knew from the research. 116 00:06:07,542 --> 00:06:11,018 That you can rise up from adversity, 117 00:06:11,042 --> 00:06:13,518 that there are strategies that work, 118 00:06:13,542 --> 00:06:15,934 that it is utterly possible 119 00:06:15,958 --> 00:06:21,059 to make yourself think and act in certain ways 120 00:06:21,083 --> 00:06:25,976 that help you navigate tough times. 121 00:06:26,000 --> 00:06:30,434 There is a monumental body of research on how to do this stuff. 122 00:06:30,458 --> 00:06:33,893 Today, I'm just going to share with you three strategies. 123 00:06:33,917 --> 00:06:37,768 These are my go-to strategies that I relied upon 124 00:06:37,792 --> 00:06:40,393 and saved me in my darkest days. 125 00:06:40,417 --> 00:06:44,226 They're three strategies that underpin all of my work, 126 00:06:44,250 --> 00:06:47,226 and they're pretty readily available to us all, 127 00:06:47,250 --> 00:06:48,601 anyone can learn them, 128 00:06:48,625 --> 00:06:51,000 you can learn them right here today. 129 00:06:52,083 --> 00:06:53,559 So number one, 130 00:06:53,583 --> 00:06:58,143 resilient people get that shit happens. 131 00:06:58,167 --> 00:07:01,934 They know that suffering is part of life. 132 00:07:01,958 --> 00:07:04,143 This doesn't mean they actually welcome it in, 133 00:07:04,167 --> 00:07:06,018 they're not actually delusional. 134 00:07:06,042 --> 00:07:09,184 Just that when the tough times come, 135 00:07:09,208 --> 00:07:10,934 they seem to know 136 00:07:10,958 --> 00:07:15,893 that suffering is part of every human existence. 137 00:07:15,917 --> 00:07:20,434 And knowing this stops you from feeling discriminated against 138 00:07:20,458 --> 00:07:22,559 when the tough times come. 139 00:07:22,583 --> 00:07:24,809 Never once did I find myself thinking, 140 00:07:24,833 --> 00:07:26,518 "Why me?" 141 00:07:26,542 --> 00:07:28,309 In fact, I remember thinking, 142 00:07:28,333 --> 00:07:30,268 "Why not me? 143 00:07:30,292 --> 00:07:31,809 Terrible things happen to you, 144 00:07:31,833 --> 00:07:33,934 just like they do everybody else. 145 00:07:33,958 --> 00:07:35,393 That's your life now, 146 00:07:35,417 --> 00:07:37,809 time to sink or swim." 147 00:07:37,833 --> 00:07:39,518 The real tragedy 148 00:07:39,542 --> 00:07:43,226 is that not enough of us seem to know this any longer. 149 00:07:43,250 --> 00:07:44,518 We seem to live in an age 150 00:07:44,542 --> 00:07:46,684 where we're entitled to a perfect life, 151 00:07:46,708 --> 00:07:50,393 where shiny, happy photos on Instagram are the norm, 152 00:07:50,417 --> 00:07:52,101 when actually, 153 00:07:52,125 --> 00:07:56,434 as you all demonstrated at the start of my talk, 154 00:07:56,458 --> 00:07:59,250 the very opposite is true. 155 00:08:00,417 --> 00:08:02,268 Number two, 156 00:08:02,292 --> 00:08:03,875 resilient people 157 00:08:05,458 --> 00:08:11,792 are really good at choosing carefully where they select their attention. 158 00:08:12,667 --> 00:08:16,559 They have a habit of realistically appraising situations, 159 00:08:16,583 --> 00:08:21,434 and typically, managing to focus on the things that they can change, 160 00:08:21,458 --> 00:08:26,851 and somehow accept the things that they can't. 161 00:08:26,875 --> 00:08:32,875 This is a vital, learnable skill for resilience. 162 00:08:34,042 --> 00:08:37,393 As humans, we are really good 163 00:08:37,417 --> 00:08:41,018 at noticing threats and weaknesses. 164 00:08:41,042 --> 00:08:44,976 We are hardwired for that negative. 165 00:08:45,000 --> 00:08:48,143 We're really, really good at noticing them. 166 00:08:48,167 --> 00:08:53,101 Negative emotions stick to us like Velcro, 167 00:08:53,125 --> 00:08:58,434 whereas positive emotions and experiences seems to bounce off like Teflon. 168 00:08:58,458 --> 00:09:01,893 Being wired in this way is actually really good for us, 169 00:09:01,917 --> 00:09:05,518 and served us well from an evolutionary perspective. 170 00:09:05,542 --> 00:09:07,726 So imagine for a moment I'm a cavewoman, 171 00:09:07,750 --> 00:09:10,101 and I'm coming out of my cave in the morning, 172 00:09:10,125 --> 00:09:12,268 and there's a saber-toothed tiger on one side 173 00:09:12,292 --> 00:09:14,643 and a beautiful rainbow on the other. 174 00:09:14,667 --> 00:09:19,851 It kind of pays for my survival for me to notice this tiger. 175 00:09:19,875 --> 00:09:21,143 The problem is, 176 00:09:21,167 --> 00:09:25,351 we now live in an era where we are constantly bombarded 177 00:09:25,375 --> 00:09:27,643 by threats all day long, 178 00:09:27,667 --> 00:09:32,684 and our poor brains treat every single one of those threats 179 00:09:32,708 --> 00:09:35,518 as though they were a tiger. 180 00:09:35,542 --> 00:09:39,018 Our threat focus, our stress response, 181 00:09:39,042 --> 00:09:42,809 is permanently dialed up. 182 00:09:42,833 --> 00:09:46,226 Resilient people don't diminish the negative, 183 00:09:46,250 --> 00:09:49,101 but they also have worked out a way 184 00:09:49,125 --> 00:09:52,208 of tuning into the good. 185 00:09:53,750 --> 00:09:57,559 One day, when doubts were threatening to overwhelm me, 186 00:09:57,583 --> 00:09:59,393 I distinctly remember thinking, 187 00:09:59,417 --> 00:10:04,559 "No, you do not get to get swallowed up by this. 188 00:10:04,583 --> 00:10:06,351 You have to survive. 189 00:10:06,375 --> 00:10:09,018 You've got so much to live for. 190 00:10:09,042 --> 00:10:12,101 Choose life, not death. 191 00:10:12,125 --> 00:10:14,684 Don't lose what you have 192 00:10:14,708 --> 00:10:17,143 to what you have lost." 193 00:10:17,167 --> 00:10:19,601 In psychology, we call this benefit finding. 194 00:10:19,625 --> 00:10:21,351 In my brave new world, 195 00:10:21,375 --> 00:10:25,059 it involved trying to find things to be grateful for. 196 00:10:25,083 --> 00:10:26,809 At least our wee girl 197 00:10:26,833 --> 00:10:31,101 hadn't died of some terrible, long, drawn-out illness. 198 00:10:31,125 --> 00:10:33,309 She died suddenly, instantly, 199 00:10:33,333 --> 00:10:37,059 sparing us and her that pain. 200 00:10:37,083 --> 00:10:40,601 We had a huge amount of social support from family and friends 201 00:10:40,625 --> 00:10:42,393 to help us through. 202 00:10:42,417 --> 00:10:43,851 And most of all, 203 00:10:43,875 --> 00:10:47,268 we still had two beautiful boys to live for, 204 00:10:47,292 --> 00:10:48,976 who needed us now, 205 00:10:49,000 --> 00:10:54,875 and deserved to have as normal a life as we could possibly give them. 206 00:10:56,333 --> 00:10:59,143 Being able to switch the focus of your attention 207 00:10:59,167 --> 00:11:01,101 to also include the good 208 00:11:01,125 --> 00:11:05,059 has been shown by science to be a really powerful strategy. 209 00:11:05,083 --> 00:11:09,893 So in 2005, Martin Seligman and colleagues conducted an experiment. 210 00:11:09,917 --> 00:11:14,518 And they asked people, all they asked people to do, 211 00:11:14,542 --> 00:11:19,143 was think of three good things that had happened to them each day. 212 00:11:19,167 --> 00:11:22,768 What they found, over the six months course of this study, 213 00:11:22,792 --> 00:11:26,309 was that those people showed higher levels of gratitude, 214 00:11:26,333 --> 00:11:27,976 higher levels of happiness 215 00:11:28,000 --> 00:11:33,309 and less depression over the course of the six-month study. 216 00:11:33,333 --> 00:11:34,857 When you're going through grief, 217 00:11:34,881 --> 00:11:37,351 you might need a reminder, 218 00:11:37,375 --> 00:11:40,476 or you might need permission to feel grateful. 219 00:11:40,500 --> 00:11:43,268 In our kitchen, we've got a bright pink neon poster 220 00:11:43,292 --> 00:11:46,726 that reminds us to "accept" the good. 221 00:11:46,750 --> 00:11:48,518 In the American army, 222 00:11:48,542 --> 00:11:50,601 they framed it a little bit differently. 223 00:11:50,625 --> 00:11:54,809 They talked to the army about hunting the good stuff. 224 00:11:54,833 --> 00:11:56,726 Find the language that works for you, 225 00:11:56,750 --> 00:11:58,059 but whatever you do, 226 00:11:58,083 --> 00:12:02,393 make an intentional, deliberate, ongoing effort 227 00:12:02,417 --> 00:12:05,333 to tune into what's good in your world. 228 00:12:06,292 --> 00:12:07,559 Number three, 229 00:12:07,583 --> 00:12:09,518 resilient people ask themselves, 230 00:12:09,542 --> 00:12:13,434 "Is what I'm doing helping or harming me?" 231 00:12:13,458 --> 00:12:17,351 This is a question that's used a lot in good therapy. 232 00:12:17,375 --> 00:12:19,809 And boy, is it powerful. 233 00:12:19,833 --> 00:12:22,809 This was my go-to question 234 00:12:22,833 --> 00:12:25,226 in the days after the girls died. 235 00:12:25,250 --> 00:12:28,976 I would ask it again and again. 236 00:12:29,000 --> 00:12:32,018 "Should I go to the trial and see the driver? 237 00:12:32,042 --> 00:12:34,768 Would that help me or would it harm me?" 238 00:12:34,792 --> 00:12:36,684 Well, that was a no-brainer for me, 239 00:12:36,708 --> 00:12:38,559 I chose to stay away. 240 00:12:38,583 --> 00:12:41,309 But Trevor, my husband, decided to meet with the driver 241 00:12:41,333 --> 00:12:43,101 at a later time. 242 00:12:43,125 --> 00:12:48,476 Late at night, I'd find myself sometimes poring over old photos of Abi, 243 00:12:48,500 --> 00:12:50,476 getting more and more upset. 244 00:12:50,500 --> 00:12:51,768 I'd ask myself, 245 00:12:51,792 --> 00:12:55,476 "Really? Is this helping you or is it harming you? 246 00:12:55,500 --> 00:12:57,143 Put away the photos, 247 00:12:57,167 --> 00:12:58,768 go to bed for the night, 248 00:12:58,792 --> 00:13:00,792 be kind to yourself." 249 00:13:01,833 --> 00:13:05,643 This question can be applied to so many different contexts. 250 00:13:05,667 --> 00:13:09,684 Is the way I'm thinking and acting helping or harming you, 251 00:13:09,708 --> 00:13:12,809 in your bid to get that promotion, 252 00:13:12,833 --> 00:13:14,434 to pass that exam, 253 00:13:14,458 --> 00:13:17,018 to recover from a heart attack? 254 00:13:17,042 --> 00:13:19,601 So many different ways. 255 00:13:19,625 --> 00:13:21,351 I write a lot about resilience, 256 00:13:21,375 --> 00:13:24,184 and over the years, this one strategy 257 00:13:24,208 --> 00:13:27,768 has prompted more positive feedback than any other. 258 00:13:27,792 --> 00:13:30,143 I get scores of letters and emails and things 259 00:13:30,167 --> 00:13:32,143 from all over the place of people saying 260 00:13:32,167 --> 00:13:35,101 what a huge impact it's had on their lives. 261 00:13:35,125 --> 00:13:40,434 Whether it is forgiving family ancient transgressions, arguments 262 00:13:40,458 --> 00:13:42,393 from Christmases past, 263 00:13:42,417 --> 00:13:45,809 or whether it is just trolling through social media, 264 00:13:45,833 --> 00:13:48,184 whether it is asking yourself 265 00:13:48,208 --> 00:13:51,542 whether you really need that extra glass of wine. 266 00:13:52,875 --> 00:13:56,934 Asking yourself whether what you're doing, the way you're thinking, 267 00:13:56,958 --> 00:13:58,226 the way you're acting 268 00:13:58,250 --> 00:14:01,184 is helping or harming you, 269 00:14:01,208 --> 00:14:04,101 puts you back in the driver's seat. 270 00:14:04,125 --> 00:14:09,000 It gives you some control over your decision-making. 271 00:14:10,792 --> 00:14:12,643 Three strategies. 272 00:14:12,667 --> 00:14:13,917 Pretty simple. 273 00:14:14,875 --> 00:14:17,476 They're readily available to us all, 274 00:14:17,500 --> 00:14:20,351 anytime, anywhere. 275 00:14:20,375 --> 00:14:23,643 They don't require rocket science. 276 00:14:23,667 --> 00:14:27,059 Resilience isn't some fixed trait. 277 00:14:27,083 --> 00:14:28,351 It's not elusive, 278 00:14:28,375 --> 00:14:31,292 that some people have and some people don't. 279 00:14:32,125 --> 00:14:37,226 It actually requires very ordinary processes. 280 00:14:37,250 --> 00:14:40,518 Just the willingness to give them a go. 281 00:14:40,542 --> 00:14:43,184 I think we all have moments in life 282 00:14:43,208 --> 00:14:45,101 where our life path splits 283 00:14:45,125 --> 00:14:47,476 and the journey we thought we were going down 284 00:14:47,500 --> 00:14:51,809 veers off to some terrible direction 285 00:14:51,833 --> 00:14:54,018 that we never anticipated, 286 00:14:54,042 --> 00:14:56,684 and we certainly didn't want. 287 00:14:56,708 --> 00:14:57,958 It happened to me. 288 00:14:58,875 --> 00:15:01,809 It was awful beyond imagining. 289 00:15:01,833 --> 00:15:06,934 If you ever find yourselves in a situation where you think 290 00:15:06,958 --> 00:15:10,184 "There's no way I'm coming back from this," 291 00:15:10,208 --> 00:15:13,434 I urge you to lean into these strategies 292 00:15:13,458 --> 00:15:15,458 and think again. 293 00:15:16,958 --> 00:15:19,101 I won't pretend 294 00:15:19,125 --> 00:15:21,625 that thinking this way is easy. 295 00:15:22,458 --> 00:15:25,601 And it doesn't remove all the pain. 296 00:15:25,625 --> 00:15:30,351 But if I've learned anything over the last five years, 297 00:15:30,375 --> 00:15:34,101 it is that thinking this way really does help. 298 00:15:34,125 --> 00:15:35,726 More than anything, 299 00:15:35,750 --> 00:15:39,726 it has shown me that it is possible 300 00:15:39,750 --> 00:15:43,893 to live and grieve at the same time. 301 00:15:43,917 --> 00:15:48,059 And for that, I would be always grateful. 302 00:15:48,083 --> 00:15:49,351 Thank you. 303 00:15:49,375 --> 00:15:52,417 (Applause)