You have had an impossible week at work: one meeting after another, emails at all hours, a project that has become complicated, and a boss who asks for more than you can handle. Friday arrives and, instead of stopping, you tell yourself that you can still hold on a little longer. You work through the weekend, give up the gym, eat in front of the computer, and keep postponing rest until the situation improves. You might think you are being strong. But, according to neurologist Mónica Kurtis, you are doing exactly the opposite of what being resilient means.

The dictionary of the Institut d'Estudis Catalans (IEC) defines the term resilience as "an individual's ability to overcome an unfavorable or risky situation." This is a highly valued attitude in the adult world, especially in the volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous context in which we currently live; therefore, it is an important skill to cultivate as soon as possible.

Nobody knows where it is Boris Cyrulnik and there are only two hours left until, in theory, it offers a masterclass at CosmoCaixa in Barcelona. The renowned neurologist, neuropsychiatrist, and writer—who is about to turn 88—went for a walk after breakfast without picking up his cell phone. Every minute that passes grows uneasy among the EDAI organization, a leading entity in neurodevelopment and child and adolescent mental health, which has invited the author to participate in the fourth edition of the international congress they organize. Cyrulnik has pioneered the use of the term resilience applied to psychology: he himself had to put that capacity to resist and cope with traumatic situations to the test from a very young age. Born in Bordeaux in 1937, the son of a Jewish family originally from Poland, Cyrulnik lost his parents – both deported to the Auschwitz concentration camp – and had to flee from the Nazis and hide for almost three years, until the Second World War ended and his life ceased.