Davidson argues that our response to such events -- and even to full-on tragedies, such as the death of a loved one -- is as much a part of our identity as our fingerprints.

"Each of us is a color-wheel combination of the resilience, outlook, social intuition, self-awareness, context and attention dimensions of emotional style," he writes in his new book, "The Emotional Life of Your Brain" (Hudson Street Press), "a unique blend that describes how you perceive the world and react to it, how you engage with others and how you navigate the obstacle course of life..."

"It's best to regard your emotional well-being as a skill that can be trained," he says. "In many ways, it's no different than learning to play the violin. If you practice, you'll get better."