Risk & Business Magazine General Insurance Services - Fall 2020 | Page 22

GROWTH AFTER CRISIS
GROWTH AFTER CRISIS
IS POSSIBLE
In some ways suffering ceases to be
suffering at the moment it finds a
meaning. —Viktor Frankl
Most people say they don’t like
adversity. If you ask, many of us
would say that this Covid19 situation,
right now, sucks. And the last thing we
want to hear is, “You’ll grow from this.”
Please. Don’t start with that.
Yet history is littered with stories of
triumph and growth through adversity.
Van Gogh was tortured with madness.
Beethoven went deaf. Roosevelt suffered
from polio and paralysis. Victor Frankl
was imprisoned in Auschwitz, his family
murdered by Nazis. More recently I
was reminded of Michael J. Fox, who
has advanced Parkinson’s Disease, and
yet now his foundation has become the
largest donor to Parkinson’s research –
over $650 million thus far. Frida Kahlo,
who suffered through polio, a near death
accident, and chronic unrelenting pain,
and yet found solace in her art. Our
world religions of Hinduism, Buddhism,
Islam, and Christianity all have stories of
the transformative power of suffering.
But what’s the path to enlightenment
through crisis and trauma? Is it as simple
as waking up one day in the middle of a
crisis and just creating art and meaning?
Well no, it’s not that simple. But there is
a path we can follow.
Richard Tedeschi and Lawrence Calhoun
have done years of research on how
people deal with traumatic events and
crises in their lives, and how some
people successfully grow and thrive,
while others merely cope, and some fold
under the weight of psychic trauma.
They define “posttraumatic growth” as
an increased appreciation for life, more
meaningful relationships with family,
friends and community, positive shifting
of priorities, and a more meaningful
spiritual life. They also point out that
growth isn’t a binary choice, it’s a
journey. And like any journey there are
ups and downs.
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