Sunday With Sisson | Mark's Daily Apple

The most consistent predictor of longevity is the ability to roll with the punches. To deal with what life throws at you. To exhibit great resistance to stress.

Because stress happens. It just does. There’s no way around it. You are going to be exposed to stressors, and you are going to have to deal with them. Whether you deal with them well or freak out and lose your mind and become a giant bag of cortisol and adrenaline determines everything.

Now, you can certainly build stress resistance. Any number of behaviors and activities can make you stronger and more resilient to stress of all kinds. Lifting heavy things, managing your time correctly, following through on your word, tackling difficult projects, surrounding yourself with beauty and loving relationships, staying physically active, eating a nutrient-dense diet and perhaps most importantly recovering from all the intense physical and mental activity you engage in are excellent ways to build stress resilience.

There’s also an intangible aspect to stress resilience. An ambiguous and hard-to-pin-down “it” factor that the longest living all seem to have. They just don’t get stressed out, even when things look terrible from the outside. Maybe it’s genetic. Maybe you can’t teach it, or learn it.

But there are things you can “track” to make sure you’re truly rolling with the punches.

Laughter—how often are you laughing? Are you generally having a good time in life? It’s hard to belly laugh in a stressed-out state.

Sleep—Are you able to get to sleep at night? If you have no trouble falling asleep, you’re probably dealing with stress well.

Zest—Do you still have a zest for life? Are you still interested and curious about things?

Play—Are you still playing? Still having fun? The one thing extremely stress-resilient people seem to be able to do is turn everything into a game. This makes even difficult situations more manageable and sometimes even enjoyable.

Finally, you need to realize something: Don't take bad events personally. This is not God or karma. This is shit happening and your chance to take responsibility. And by responsibility, I don't mean blame. I mean the ability to respond and persevere. Resilience.

Where do you measure up on “rolling with the punches”? Does this describe you, or do you have work to do?