Once while he was in the ocean, something large rammed him at high speed. His first thought: Shark! But it turned out to be a dolphin trained by the Navy to attack humans.

Kyle swam under a pier, where he was sure that a dolphin would not go, then something slammed into one of his legs. It was a sea lion trained by the Navy to attack humans. The Navy wanted to stress the SEALS to get them ready for the demands of combat.

Stressors can be good for us. They can toughen us physically and mentally. 

If you want to add stressors to your life, you can do so without becoming a SEAL. The fictional Inspector Clouseau presented us with an example in a Pink Panther movie. He has a houseboy named Cato. One evening, Clouseau comes home hungry. Clouseau opens the refrigerator.

Out of the fridge comes Cato, who chokes the Inspector like a madman. Clouseau eventually beats the living daylights out of Cato. 

OK, maybe we do not need that much in the way of stressors. What kinds of stressors help us?

Let’s start with exercise. When I do hard aerobic training, I look as if I am dying. As long as I do not work out like that too often, the exercise is probably good for me.

Mental challenges and problems to solve can also be valuable stressors. My next mental challenge: Setting up a phone application on a virtual reality headset. If you ever saw me trying to use the DVD player connected to my home TV, you would understand what a challenge I have set for myself with the VR app.

When do stressors have overall negative effects? When they last too long and we get exhausted day after day. When we start thinking that we cannot prevail and cease to take care of business. When we start to have stress-related problems with anxiety, depression, hostility, or substances. When our immune system starts to falter.

What stressors help keep you physically and mentally tough?