\u201cSome people just shouldn\u2019t have kids.\u201d This was something that I overheard in a conversation last year about how IVF(in-vitro fertilization) babies frequently end up in the NICU(neonatal intensive care unit). Their argument was simple, parents who \u201cartificially\u201d conceived were more likely to have fragile babies. By fragile, it was implied that these babies could not tolerate the shock of transferring from the womb to the outside world. As I sit here in the NICU, head on a swivel for any beeps from my daughter\u2019s myriad of monitors, I both think back on this comment and reflect on my own beginning.<\/p>\n
I was born with a hole in my heart. More specifically, I had multiple holes, the biggest and most concerning one was in the muscular wall between two of the four chambers in my heart. In medical terminology, I had a ventricular septal defect, more commonly known by its abbreviation, VSD. It was detected after birth when my parents noticed that I was getting bluer with each passing week due to my heart\u2019s lack of ability to pump blood through my body effectively. At 6 months old, I required open heart surgery to repair the VSD, along with other smaller holes they discovered. Without taking great caution in those first few months and without medical intervention, there is no doubt I would not have survived. I was a fragile baby.<\/p>\n
It was with this understanding of fragility that I approached Nassim Nicholas Taleb\u2019s book, Antifragile: Things that Gain from Disorder<\/em>. In it he defines antifragility as \u201cthings that benefit from shocks; they thrive and grow when exposed to volatility, randomness, disorder, and stressors, and love adventure, risk, and uncertainty.\u201d[1]<\/a> Taleb makes sure to emphasize that resilience and robustness are different. Being resilient or robust can help to resist the shock, with the goal being that no change occurs.[2]<\/a> Additionally, Taleb postulates that fragility and antifragility are opposite sides of a sliding scale. When there\u2019s more upside from shocks, you tip toward being antifragile, with more downside, you tip toward fragility.[3]<\/a> Ultimately, the author argues that many different systems of life could benefit from welcoming shocks to become more antifragile.<\/p>\n So how do we become antifragile? Perhaps contrary to Taleb\u2019s sliding scale theory, I think the most meaningful way we become antifragile is in recognizing and embracing how fragile we are. As especially fragile as I was, and Noa currently is, fragility seems inherent in all humans, at least physically. The author of James seems to understand this concept, writing: \u201c\u2026yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, \u2018If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that\u2026\u201d[4]<\/a> The author implies that while we are fragile, the Lord is not. It is God who controls our fates.<\/p>\n Perhaps the greatest example of being antifragile while embracing fragility is in Jesus\u2019s resurrection after he suffered and died on the cross. In the ultimate embrace of his fragile physical existence, he allowed himself to be silently led into suffering and death.[5]<\/a> In doing so, however, he was able to conquer death.[6]<\/a><\/p>\n Paul then tells us in Romans 5, that through faith in Jesus, we too share in that victory over death and have hope in the glory of God. That hope allows us to face trials, tribulations, and what Taleb might call shocks, and come out with more endurance, character, and hope. So while our human existence is fraught with unexpected occurrences and unpredictability, we can benefit from them through a steadfast faith in Christ.<\/p>\n Understanding our fragile nature is important as it ultimately points us to the only one who is truly antifragile and can help us do all things.[7]<\/a><\/p>\n I\u2019ll leave you with the first few lines of Beatitudes, which I have been thinking of these last 14 days in the hospital.<\/p>\n \u201cBlessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.<\/p>\n Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.<\/p>\n Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.<\/p>\n Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n [1]<\/a> Nassim Nicholas Taleb, Antifragile: Things That Gain from Disorder<\/em> (New York, NY: Random House Publishing Group, 2012), 17.<\/p>\n [2]<\/a> Ibid, 17<\/p>\n [3]<\/a> Ibid, 18<\/p>\n [4]<\/a> Ja 1:14-15<\/p>\n