The Art of Taking It Easy: How to Cope with Bears, Traffic, and the Rest of Life's Stressors

by Brian King

Let me be clear, nobody is happy all the time. In fact, to be happy all the time is indicative of a disorder.4 Healthy people fluctuate in their emotions. We have highs, we have lows, and overall, we have a general level of affect that would describe our usual emotional state. If we averaged all of our ups and downs, we’d have an emotional equilibrium, if you will.

As they say, always check your source. If only people on Facebook followed this rule before sharing a political meme .

Don’t misunderstand: just because we can change, doesn’t mean we will change.

Resilience is our ability to recover from adversity, to bounce back or return to equilibrium after experiencing an adverse event. It is a major component in coping with and recovering from stressful events.

When I talk about handling stress, it’s because I have handled some stress.

We don’t all have to be able to jump out of airplanes, but at a bare minimum we should be able to handle traffic. At a bare minimum we should be able to handle shopping in public.

It might sound simple, but it is tough, and it is tough to remember to redirect your thoughts day after day after day.