16 Inspirational Quotes That Will Help You Bounce Back from 2020

We all need a little burst of wisdom once in awhile, whether it’s to jolt ourselves into a desired frame of mind, to process a life event, to borrow inspiration for an occasion, or to get motivated to take on a new challenge.

There have been a few common threads woven throughout this year that continue to resonate with me: adversity, change, perspective, and resilience. Here are some quotes that pertain to each of these themes–spanning centuries and paths–that I think anyone can draw inspiration from as we look to a better year ahead…

The potential post-traumatic legacy of the Covid pandemic

Adrian James (Covid poses ‘greatest threat to mental health since second world war’, 27 December) sees clearly that a pervasive problem like the pandemic, over which most people have only limited control and many potential points of vulnerability, is likely to leave a legacy of poor mental health – on a scale not seen since the battle of the Somme.

With a year to prepare, the Johnson government has failed to promote personal resilience – a key lesson from preventing post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in military populations – and so this winter millions of Britons look ahead helplessly to a grim time indeed.

However, there is still a policy area that could reduce population illness: tackling the shocking level of health inequalities. A steep gradient of social inequality damages both physical and mental health. That damage is especially long-lasting for children “at the bottom of the heap”.

James suggests 10 million more people will need mental health services (including 1.5 million children), but there is not much chance that existing services can be beefed up that much during 2021. Boris Johnson talks about levelling up children and families as if we were all just another brick in the wall…

Building Resilience in Children

How can we build resilience during this crisis? There are no easy answers for how to cope, what to do, and how to keep it together when all you really want to do is fall apart.  Yet there are definitely things we can do to deliberately cultivate our personal resilience.  First, let us understand a few things about resilience in order to help ourselves and our children…