Okay, I think I can give some advice here. I grew up very poor in a bad home. I was homeless as a teenager, so I joined the Marine Corp Infantry. I did multi

Okay, I think I can give some advice here. I grew up very poor in a bad home. I was homeless as a teenager, so I joined the Marine Corp Infantry. I did multiple deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan, including being involved in real combat. Now I live a very comfortable life thanks to spending the last 10 years as a software engineer at top companies. 1. People always 'find their level' with their current situation. After an initial period of stress, you just sort of accept your current circumstances as normal. I'm sure there's a psychological term for it. 2. The main failure mode I've observed in others is focusing on things outside of their control. Stress builds when you spend your time trying to influence or control something that you fundamentally can't change. Learning to accept your circumstances and limit your focus to how you'll respond to them is probably the single most important survival skill you can have. I'm not sure how to teach someone this, maybe others will have an idea. 3. People desperately crave purpose. Feeling like you have a purpose, regardless of what it is, will get you through the toughest times. It doesn't have to be complicated; it could be as simple as wanting to have children, serving a God, making people happy, or searching for a specific piece of knowledge to add to humanity. If you don't know what your purpose is, then I would suggest focus your time on figuring that out. 4. When times are hard, people are close. If you want to prepare for uncertainty don't go all doomsday prepper. Instead focus on building a strong and local social circle. Feel like you are part of a community. 5. Perspective helps blunt the shock of change. If your life experiences are limited to a relatively narrow band of human experience, then you're susceptible to large emotional swings as your body processes new experiences. Gaining perspective can be difficult but try traveling and reading history. 6. Don't underestimate the importance of physical fitness. Go for a walk, lift some weights, get some sunlight.