Weathering the Storm: Lessons on Resilience
Disasters have a way of shaking our foundations, revealing both the fragility and strength of a community, and surviving such events leaves us changed, often for the better, as we learn to adapt, rebuild, and come together. William Faulkner echoed this:?
“It’s hard believing but disaster seems to be good for people.”
Look at North Carolina in the wake of Hurricane Helene. The destruction of life and property is gut-wrenching, and still being assessed. But heartache aside, a rising tide of altruism is now in full throttle.
Rewind to 2005 when Hurricane Katrina wrecked the city of New Orleans. Same pattern. Disaster + Sacrifice = Healing. In this instance, a few hundred boat owners from the neighboring parishes caravanned through the streets to search and rescue stranded citizens from their attics and rooftops. I remember this well. When the alarm bell was sounded, I told myself to show up.
In the aftermath of Katrina, it wasn’t just the winds or the waters that left a mark on me?—?it was the way strangers became brothers-in-arms. The army of everyday men and women riding Interstate 10 eastbound mirrored a battalion of infantry soldiers.
The details of my personal experience were unprecedented, and remain private. What mattered was the culmination of support which morphed into sainthood for a community. This wasn’t just a rescue mission; it was a testament to human compassion and unity in the face of disaster, eventually founding a non-profit movement, The Cajun Navy. The rest is history.
A Rising Tide Lifts All?Boats
History is wrought with stories where selfless and heroic actions follow in the footsteps of disaster. The compounding effects of immense compression crack open opportunity. Like the volatility we experience with a free enterprise system, the price of admission is living through the storm, coming out the other side, and being better because of the compression.
When contemplating our money story, we find the same principles that guide us through life’s challenges?—?resilience, risk, and community?—?also apply to our approach to investing and economics. Nassim Taleb’s concept of ‘skin in the game’ highlights the importance of being directly involved in the outcomes of our actions, just as we are in rescue efforts:
“…you cannot separate knowledge from contact with the ground. Actually, you cannot separate anything from contact with the ground. And the contact with the real world is done via skin in the game?—?having an exposure to the real world, and paying a price for its consequences, good or bad. The abrasions of your skin guide your learning and discovery, a mechanism of organic signaling….”
Whether in life or finance, meaningful change requires taking risks and being personally invested in the outcome. The high water will come, and when it does, we should feel secure that in the wake of this volatility?—?with skin in the game?—?repair is already in the making. A rising tide lifts all boats.