This study tracked about 1,000 adults in the United States, and they ranged in age from 34 to 93, and they started the study by asking, "How much stress have you experienced in the last year?"
They also asked, "How much time have you spent helping out friends, neighbors, people in your community?"
And then they used public records for the next five years to find out who died.
Okay, so the bad news first: For every major stressful life experience, like financial difficulties or family crisis, that increased the risk of dying by 30 percent.
But -- and I hope you are expecting a "but" by now -- but that wasn't true for everyone.
People who spent time caring for others showedabsolutely no stress-related increase in dying. Zero. Caring created resilience.
And so we see once again that the harmful effects of stress on your health are not inevitable.
How you think and how you act can transform your experience of stress.
When you choose to view your stress response as helpful, you create the biology of courage.
And when you choose to connect with others under stress, you can create resilience.