A sense of humor.

This may sound glib and superficial but it does several things:

1) Stress reducer both yours and others around you.

2) Requires paying attention (if you aren't paying attention, you're going to miss a good joke opportunity and the snake you're about to step on).

3) Requires looking at things a little differently which opens up opportunities (the "hey that rock looks like my mother-in-law" may actually draw your attention to spring trickling out from under it)


I remember a Magnum PI episode where he was stranded out at sea and had a shark circling him. He gave the shark a name and talked to it (which to me watching the show as a adolescent was funny as hell).

I've used that tactic with my daughter for the "monsters under the bed" when she was little. I had her picture the monster wearing something funny ( a pink tu-tu), and make it clean up her room (that monster always did a lousy job at cleaning).