{"id":34431,"date":"2023-12-03T14:59:27","date_gmt":"2023-12-03T22:59:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/?p=34431"},"modified":"2023-12-03T14:59:27","modified_gmt":"2023-12-03T22:59:27","slug":"thankful-for-the-pain","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/thankful-for-the-pain\/","title":{"rendered":"Thankful for the Pain"},"content":{"rendered":"

After thirty-eight days migraine free, I am on day seven of this migraine. I am at least past the \u201csomeone please give me a guillotine\u201d phase, but the horrific head pain is not the only symptom. Nausea, exhaustion, tinnitus, stiff neck, struggling to concentrate, and sensitivity to light, sound, and smell\u2026 these are my current symptoms. But, as you all know, when you are a doctoral student, the work needs to get done. So here I am, trying to finish my last blog post of the semester, with yet another tiny print, long book. Chat GPT to the rescue. What can I learn from Antifragile<\/em> by Nassim Nicholas Taleb?<\/p>\n

At its core, antifragility is the idea that certain systems and entities not only withstand disorder and volatility but actually thrive and improve in the face of it. Taleb introduces the term “antifragile” as the opposite of “fragile” \u2013 where fragility implies vulnerability to shocks and disruptions, antifragility denotes resilience and even enhancement through exposure to chaos.[1]<\/a><\/p>\n

It seems fitting to write this blogpost with a migraine. My struggle with this chronic illness is an example of what Taleb describes in Antifragile. <\/em>\u201cAntifragility is beyond resilience or robustness. The resilient resists shocks and stays the same; the antifragile gets better.\u201d[2]<\/a> If I could go back twenty years and cure myself of migraines, I would not do it. I am grateful for these migraines, for the way I have grown over the past twenty years. I would not trade that growth for a pain free life.<\/p>\n

Have you heard the song Oceans (Where Feet May Fail)<\/em><\/a> by Hillsong United? I love the bridge to this song:<\/p>\n

Spirit lead me where my trust is without borders
\nLet me walk upon the waters wherever You would call me
\nTake me deeper than my feet could ever wander
\nAnd my faith will be made stronger in the presence of my Saviour[3]<\/a><\/p>\n

It is only in keeping my eyes on Jesus, in trusting in Him that I am able to navigate life with my health challenges. I would rather live every single day of my life with a migraine than ever think that I can go a second on my own strength.<\/p>\n

When we are faced with challenges, we have a choice. Do we use the resistance to gain strength, or do we give up? It is not easy. There are days when just rising from bed is a triumph, and days where I barely move. Then there are days where I feel like I can accomplish anything. Today is an in between day. I am able to get up and moving, able to focus at least marginally, able to accomplish something.<\/p>\n

We all face challenges. The challenges you face will be different than the ones I face, but you still have that same choice. Will you seek God and push through? Will you learn the lesson in the challenge, the growth in the challenge, or will you turn back to the easy path, the painless path? My husband has heard me ask for a guillotine on numerous occasions. He always tells me to not take a permanent solution to a temporary problem. No, I am not serious when I ask for the guillotine, I am just expressing to him the pain I am feeling. But his words have wisdom. The pain will eventually come to an end. What am I learning in the midst of it? I am learning trust and faith. I am learning resilience and growth. I am learning antifragility.<\/p>\n

2 Corinthians 12:9-11 \u201d9\u00a0<\/sup><\/strong>But he said to me,\u00a0\u2018My grace\u00a0is sufficient for you, for my power\u00a0is made perfect in weakness.\u2019\u00a0Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ\u2019s power may rest on me.\u00a010\u00a0<\/sup><\/strong>That is why, for Christ\u2019s sake, I delight\u00a0in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships,\u00a0in persecutions,\u00a0in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

[1]<\/a> ChatGPT https:\/\/chat.openai.com\/c\/65fad62a-6840-489c-b2b0-ef26d876ded9<\/a><\/p>\n

[2]<\/a> Nassim Nicholas Taleb, Antifragile: Things that Gain from Disorder<\/em>. (New York: Random House Trade Paperbacks, 2012), 3.<\/p>\n

[3]<\/a> Hillsong United, \u201cOceans (Where Feet May Fail),\u201d produced by Michael Guy Chislett, https:\/\/genius.com\/Hillsong-united-oceans-where-feet-may-fail-lyrics<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

After thirty-eight days migraine free, I am on day seven of this migraine. I am at least past the \u201csomeone please give me a guillotine\u201d phase, but the horrific head pain is not the only symptom. Nausea, exhaustion, tinnitus, stiff neck, struggling to concentrate, and sensitivity to light, sound, and smell\u2026 these are my current […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":155,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[2411],"class_list":["post-34431","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-taleb","cohort-dlgp01"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34431","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/155"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34431"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34431\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":34432,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34431\/revisions\/34432"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34431"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34431"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34431"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}