Surviving hurricanes. And life.

When I think of hurricanes, which I've done a lot since Helene and now Milton, I think of Steve Gleason.

Steve is the former National Football League player whose 2006 punt block won the game for the New Orleans Saints and created a rallying point for the citizens of New Orleans, who were still recovering from the destruction caused by hurricane Katrina. Steve became the symbol of resilience in a city of feisty citizens struggling to rebuild. A statue of his blocked punt, titled “Rebirth,” stands outside the Superdome.

Steve retired from football two years after that punt block, and in 2011 was diagnosed with ALS, a neurodegenerative condition affecting the brain, spinal cord, and muscles. Life expectancy is low, two to five years. But 10 percent live 10 years, and 5 percent live 20 years or more.

Obviously, Steve is among that rarefied group that has survived well beyond a decade. Not only that, he and his wife Michel Varisco Gleason founded Team Gleason to bring assistive technology, equipment, and robust support services to help people with ALS not just survive but thrive.

I've been so inspired by Steve in dealing with my own life challenges that I asked him to write the foreword for my memoir,  It's Hard Being You, a Primer on Being Happy Anyway. Steve wrote every letter with his eyes, as he cannot physically write or speak. Talk about resilience.

Side note: Steve is a Lord Huron fan, which also endears him to me. Photo is of the band's 2013 visit with Steve.

Where does that resilience come from? Is it encoded in Steve's DNA?

Maybe. Maybe not. It's estimated that 50 percent of our personality, as well as our level of happiness, is due to genetics. But what factors contribute to the other 50 percent?

Luckily, we are not prisoners of our DNA or upbringing. Experts say that to overcome difficult circumstances and to summon our resilience, we need to marshal our social, spiritual, intellectual, and financial resources. That's where the power is.

Among those factors, researchers say the most powerful predictor of resilience is a connection to something bigger than ourselves that brings our lives meaning, be it spiritual beliefs, family, community, a cause.

Everyone facing life's challenges needs those resources, as I learned in my life, and likely you have, too.

Here's to all those who create those resources, including Steve and Michel. And here's to all those who need them. You and me included.

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