Resilience

I define a virtue as a quality necessary to achieve happiness. Wisdom is a virtue. Some would argue that it is the chief virtue. But I disagree. I think the chief virtue is a quality that I can only call "resilience."

Taleb talks repeateadly about "robustness." Mike Rowe talks about "hardening." It struck me the other day that these guys were talking about the same thing. For Taleb, robustness is the ability to withstand black swan events. Instead of trying to eliminate them, individuals and societies accept them. For Mike Rowe, hardening is the quality that long time blue collar workers have. It is an acceptance of hard work and the ability to withstand adverse working conditions such as heat, cold, rain, and long hours. It is also the essence of "old man strength" which gives seasoned veterans the edge over greenhorns. The simple fact is that youth is wasted on the young.

I use the term "resilience" to refer to these things. You see it in other philosophies and worldviews. In stoicism, it is referred to as apatheia. In Calvinism, it is known as perseverance. In sports, it is tenacity. In all these things, it is the same virtue. It is resilience.

Resilience is the prime component of the work ethic. Resilience is the quality endurance athletes seek to find in themselves and improve upon. Resilience is what academics, writers, and thinkers find as they grapple with the big questions. Over and over in all fields, we see resilience. And it is resilience that separates work from mere leisure.

What is resilience? Resilience is nothing more than perseverance in the face of adversity. It is essential to happiness, and I would argue that it is identical to happiness. It is the greatness that belongs to Aristotle's Great Souled Man. Seen in this light, adversity is necessary for happiness since this is the proving ground for resilience.

The opposite of resilience is despair. It is choosing to give over to adversity and to surrender. This is synonymous with anti-happiness which is boredom and depression. Neither sadness nor anger are anti-happiness since neither are a surrender to adversity. Anti-happiness comes from capitulation.

Resilience is not stoicism since stoicism is indifference which is itself a form of capitulation. The key to resilience is not to be unfeeling but to be unyielding. It is to know that you can handle anything which comes at you.

Aristotle said that you could never know if a man was truly happy until his life was over. This is difficult to understand until you see happiness in terms of resilience. It is easy to be an optimist when times are good. It is a much different story when times are rough. Resilience can only be discovered through experience.

Resilience does not mean living a life of constant hardship. It also means enjoying the good times without being lulled into false confidence. Times of comfort, luxury, and ease do not last forever but neither does adversity. The resilient person must be someone who is willing to let this shit go. Luxury and comfort should only be enjoyed in moderation, but it cannot ever be a permanent state of being.

Similarly, asceticism should not be a permanent state of being either. To always be in a perpetual state of suffering is senseless. This is not resilience but masochism. True resilience takes the good and the bad together. Resilience runs a 12 miler at 5 a.m. and has a hearty breakfast at 8 a.m. Both pleasure and discipline are within their limits.

The best way to develop resilience is to have a sense of humor. Being able to laugh in adversity is a certain sign that you will overcome it. Sometimes, this means developing a black humor. Laughter is the ultimate defiance of adversity.

Resilience and happiness go together. They are virtually synonymous. There is not one without the other. The key to happiness is not to be without adversity but to know that you can handle adversity. Living easy is not the same as living well.

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