Smooth Roads or Suspension?
I recently read a (nother) brilliant post by Seth Godin, one piece of which was about resilience.
It got me to thinking: is better to have ultra smooth roads and cars with no suspension, no shock absorbers, or to build cars with resilience?
Which would be a more intelligent use of resources?
Living in the Northeast I can tell you that trying to create – and maintain – roads smooth enough to need no suspension would be at the very least incredibly expensive and practically impossible.
Instead we build cars with resilience.
Cars that absorb bumps big and small.
Are there things, like deep potholes, that cause actual damage to our cars? Absolutely.
But in those extreme cases all we need do is repair our cars.
So it should be with our lives.
Better to develop resilience. The ability to handle bumps – big and small – in the road.
The other thing about “suspension” is that it includes springs.
Springs allow cars to carry heavy loads without “bottoming out.”
Build your life with “suspension:” consider emotional intelligence and health your shock absorbers and physical health and grit your “springs.”
When you have true resilience – the ability to handle the bumps and occasionally carry heavy loads – life will be a much better ride.