Squirrels don’t gather nuts because they’re pessimistic. They gather because winter is predictable, even when the severity isn’t. Every life has seasons. High-output periods and recovery periods. Flush months and lean months. Energy peaks and long quiet stretches. Startups obsess over cash runway for exactly this reason. Not because they expect to fail. Because the distance between your current position and your next source of funding determines whether you survive the gap. Reserves aren’t pessimism. They’re optionality. Bitcoin, so far, has run on four-year cycles. Bear markets feel like the ecosystem is dying. They’re not. They’re when the builders build, the weak hands exit, and the foundation gets laid for the next phase. The ones who thrive long-term are the ones who stacked during the last peak: skills, relationships, savings. Not the ones who froze. The question isn’t whether cycles exist. They do. The question is whether you’re using your current season deliberately. Stack your winters.