Adversity

“Coping with adversity

 is an inextricable part of life and living.”

Life Lesson #1

If you happen to be a biological organism on planet earth, you’re going to face adversity. 

However, the paradoxical thing about adversity is this:

“That [adversity] which does not kill us,
makes us stronger.”

Friedrich Nietzsche

… not that we need to go looking for adversity, so as to acquire MORE of it …

            … or maybe we DO go looking for adversity, so as to find ways to AVOID it!

In any case, we’re certainly not always the innocent bystanders we’d like to claim to be when adversity happens.  The truth is, we can – and often DO – make adversity worse … or even create it “out of whole cloth” … by our actions or inactions; like being a “drama king or queen”, by procrastination, by obstination, etc.

And we’ve developed masterful “escapist” strategies for avoiding confrontation with adversity … playing video games, watching TV, surfing the web, immersing ourselves in social media, doing drugs … (well, some strategies are more “masterful” than others) … generally delaying and compounding the inevitable.  And we’re fantastic at making mountains out of molehills.  [Having to get up in the morning to go to school or work, do our homework, or clean up our mess in the kitchen, garage or bathroom is not adversity!  Like a whole bunch of other stuff that doesn’t max out our reward center dopamine receptors, they are merely part of the “cost of living”.]

The question for consideration here is:  How many degrees of insulation can we put between us and adversity, and how can we continually upgrade the insulation … not necessarily as protection from ever encountering adversity (it’s GONNA happen!), but for managing adversity and minimizing the impact once it inevitably arrives?   

Our “insulation” against adversity early in life has multiple layers that include: A) Parents, B) Teachers, C) Coaches, D) Business/Community/Associates/Religious Organizations, E) Government (profuse apologies for the crude rendering!):

  

As we grow older, we tend to test and push the boundaries of those insulating “bubbles” (they’re SO confining!), putting ourselves closer to the edge – frequently OVER the edge – of adversity:

***** NOTE: These “bubbles” are ultimately going to burst anyway! *****

Finally, once we’ve cleared all the formative / early development “bubbles” and find ourselves (YOU, Inc.!) in the mainstream, we need to create/evolve/adopt our own modes and means of insulation … at least against any catastrophic impact of adversity.  Recommended options include A) Market-Salient Knowledge, B) Market-Savvy Skills & Credentials, C) Notable Accomplishments, D) Alliances & Associations, E) All of the “Soft Skills” / Essential Skills:

The “catch”, of course, is that we’re supposed to get a running start on developing Level III Adversity Insulation while still covered by Level I protection … so there’s much less of a “rude awakening” when the initial bubbles collapse. 

Level III “bubbles” are more like packets and pockets of a hot air balloon that needs to keep rising … with constant fortification of the packets and pockets as higher level adversities are encountered.  There are no parking lots!  Once you’re aloft, you’re aloft for the duration.  So keep on packing those packets and pockets for maximum buoyancy and ballast!  Quartermaster