Thanks for joining me for another edition of the SerenityThroughSweat blog. With all of the upheaval in the economy and especially the aviation industry I’m constantly looking for information to help chart the best course forward. I found this quote from Delta CEO Ed Bastian on a CNN business interview lined up well with the overall message of the blog and wanted to discuss it.
“This will be the crisis that will define Delta. We have a real opportunity to get through this crisis as a more resilient airline, I think resiliency is going to be something that is redefined across corporate America and our society – resiliency, both financially and with our health, as well as stability of our business practices and business models.”
There is a lot going on in that quote to unpack; resilience, opportunity, financials, health. I’m less concerned with business practices and models, and more concerned with how each of those apply to us as individuals and families.
I’ve talked before about one silver lining to Covid-19, is the ability to reset the system and redefine daily routines. (Routine). So what is resilience, and what should we be redefining it to be going forward.
Resilience is the capacity to recover quickly from difficulties. Again, that seems like a lot to chew on because recover is different in so many scenarios. Maybe you got Covid, your overall level of health prior, would partially dictate your resilience and ability to recover. But does recover mean the virus is gone, or all the complications from the virus are gone, or maybe you have it but can still function day to day?
The same sort of mental puzzle can be applied to financial resilience. Maybe you had a good job and even a rainy day fund prior to Covid-19. That would be a starting point of financial strength and resilience. What if that job was in an industry that is totally shut down (cruise ships, bars, live events, travel) and your rainy day fund is now dry? What does your capacity for recovery look like now?
This is something I have grappled with over the past few weeks as a pilot with uncertain future employment. I’m in good health and working on it every day, I live within my means and make good financial decisions, but my capacity to recover quickly from this difficulty will be tested.
As is often the case taxonomy and diction are important. Everything I focused on above was a tangible asset. Health (measured in metrics like heart rate, blood pressure, H1ac) a job, a bank account. And while those things definitely add to my capacity to recover, they are all in some sense finite. Capacity, capability, ability to recover, will be largely determined by intangible, and less finite personal resources, especially the longer this pandemic troubles us.
Perseverance, discipline, creativity, ingenuity, and some good old fashioned SerenityThroughSweat, these are all intangible, inexhaustible, and will help foster resilience through this crisis.
So, if we are going to redefine resilience, let’s include those tangible and finite assets that affect our mental, physical, and financial well being. But let’s not forget the less tangible and trending towards infinite ones as well.
There has never been a better time to take up practices that support overall well-being. There has never been a better time to set up or reevaluate a budget. There has also never been a better time to pivot, thinking about the world that will emerge from this crisis, and learn a new skill that will serve you regardless of what comes next.
Thanks for joining me, stay safe and stay sweaty my friends.
