What is the opposite of Fragility?

Fragility: The quality of being easily broken or destroyed. 

I am curious what you would describe as the opposite of fragility? I ask this because I frequently hear people talk about themselves as fragile when dealing with an injury, pain, or not being able to move the way they want to. Their goal is to be the opposite of fragile. So I ask them a simple question. What is the opposite of fragility?

Common answers I get: 

Robust: Having or exhibiting extreme strength or vigorous health

Strong: Having or marked by great physical power

Unbreakable: not being able to be broken

I found all of these words and definitions in the merriam-webster online dictionary. Funny thing is, I don’t view these words as being the opposite of fragile. I think we need to look deeper. Robust, Strong, Unbreakable: These are all great qualities to have and I believe we should all strive for them. Though they are great words, they don’t capture the essence of what I am looking for in people who deal with chronic pain, injury or lack of movement variability. 

Antifragile: Things that GAIN from disorder. 

You see, it is not about being strong, robust, or unbreakable. I think anyone can achieve this, but true resilience comes from those who stand to gain from situations that are forced upon them. Let’s use a flower for an (extreme) example. 

Fragile: Flower dies without water

Strong: Flower can go days without water

Unbreakable: Flower maintains itself without water

Antifragile: Flower grows and blooms better without water. 

I know what you are thinking: Terrible example, but it gets the point across. Now that you understand, let's apply that to people dealing with back pain: 

Fragile: Limited and does not participate in meaningful life activities

Strong: Able to push through pain and maintain meaningful activities

Unbreakable: Able to perform meaningful activities at full effect with or without pain

Antifragile: Gets better at understanding themself. Creates new habits and patterns resulting in the ability to express movement like they have never been able to in the past. They may be able to choose to engage with meaningful activities as they desire. 

When dealing with pain, discomfort, and lack of movement we tend to lose the ability to CHOOSE. Choice is antifragility at its finest. When you are limited you are closed off from variability and opportunity to express yourself. Having a choice is a superpower and when we are limited in our physical ability then we are restricted to moving in a more safe and conservative manner. Will safe and conservative help you achieve your movement goals?

 The best results are created when we acknowledge where we are. We need to think about where we want to be. We should seek guidance or new information (self-research, working with a professional, etc.). Act out the necessary movements that are needed to reach your specified outcome. We need to feel the change that happens. This is how we affect behavior! THINK - ACT - FEEL and you will change! We need to think beyond our environment, beyond our bodies, and beyond time! 

Fear is a hell of a drug. It is scary because we don’t even know when we are addicted to it. Being antifragile is a choice. It is when you choose to stop accepting your current reality and where you stop living in the past. When we live in the past our future becomes predictable. This can be driven by an underlying fear response. This fear response can be a byproduct of pain, injury, or a past experience where exploring a new movement didn’t work out so well for you. 

I encourage you to take some time for yourself and ask yourself a question. If I could move as freely as I wanted to, what would I be doing in 6 weeks/12 weeks time that I am currently not able to do today? I love asking this question because based on the response we can reverse engineer a solution specific for you. 

Make a choice. Be antifragile. 

P.S - I highly recommend the book Antifragile: Things That Gain from Disorder by Nassim Nicholas Taleb.