Resilience is the ability of a person to cope with problems or tough situations. This doesn't change the odds of something bad happening, but it does change how someone is able to recover or bounce back from life's challenges. This has become a bigger issue in recent years with helicopter parenting, and overprotecting youth from the reality that sometimes life is just plain difficult. Resilience can be the difference between being a victim and being a survivor. Every child deserves the opportunity to learn how to handle problems, process setbacks, and move forward with little assistance. Here's a few things you can do to help the youth in your life build resilience:

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Encourage a support system. Most parents would love for their kids to feel comfortable discussing everything with them, but that's not how reality works. Different people serve different needs in a person's life. A trusted teacher might be the right person to discuss stress related to school, or getting into college, while a best friend my be the best type of support for discussing relationships. Having a support system with people inside and outside of their family is a great way to insure all of their needs are being met.  

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Help them experience success. Tackling new challenges and succeeding makes people feel a sense of accomplishment and pride that they can set goals and achieve them. Having some successes under the belt will help them handle the situations where they feel their efforts aren't rewarded.

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Teach them to take care of themselves. It's hard to bounce back and make good decisions when people are rundown and exhausted. Make sure they know how to relax, have fun, and get plenty of sleep.

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Don't solve all of their problems for them. A wonderful gift you can give someone is teaching them to solve their own problems. This doesn't mean they need to go it alone, but they should have the confidence to come up with solutions and prepare for different outcomes.

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Model self-control. We've all seen someone lose their cool by yelling, throwing a fit, or projecting their anger on another person. Practice taking a few deep breaths or counting to ten before reacting to an upsetting situation. How you act can determine how the youth around you react to things.

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Teach them how to adapt. It is inevitable that life is always changing. Some of these changes are stressful and others are super-exciting. When kids get used to trying new things then they are more likely to adapt to new situations in life. 

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