The Week contest - The art of living

Welcome to The Week's "What Next?" contest, an invitation to test your powers of imagination with challenges inspired by current events.

Click here for the results of the previous contest: Lost Productivity

Last week's question: In our Wit & Wisdom column last week, we quoted writer Alain de Botton's observation: "A good half of the art of living is resilience." What is the other half?

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Results:

THE WINNER: Doing stupid things that require you to be resilient

Donald Plotnick, Raleigh, N.C.

SECOND PLACE: A good lawyer

Cathy McCoy, Kansas City, Mo.

THIRD PLACE: Chocolate

Janine Witte, New Hope, Pa.

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

Coffee

Stephanie Hull, Pittsburgh

Ignoring Morons

Paul Carroll, Garland, Texas

1/3 social skills and 1/3 math skills

Charlie & Mary Parry, Catonsville, Md.

Taxes

Brian Clardy, Hudson, N.H.

A tolerance of buffoonery at the highest levels of government

Mark Weaver, Redondo Beach, Calif.

Not dying

Keith Hudson, Tucson

Keeping your eye on the bagel, not the hole

Kathy El-Assal, Middleton, Wis.

Laughing...at oneself

Patricia Stallone, Bristol, Pa.

Keeping one’s mouth shut

Shlomo and Sarah Elspas, Los Angeles

Inheritance

Paul Knauer, San Jose

Tilting at windmills

Bill Ashforth, Martinsburg, W.Va.

Denial

Ron Gardner, Mentor, Ohio

Avoiding in-laws

Matthew Steuer, Covington, Ky.

Finding the remote

William Shirk, West Mifflin, Pa.

Selective memory

Thatcher Friese, Los Angeles

Medication

Satya Sridhar, Glen Ellyn, Ill.

Lots of Band-Aids

Joan Millard, Toms River, N.J.

Listening to my wife

RB Ziegler, Birdsboro, Pa.

A high-fiber diet

Jesse Silverglate, Pembroke Pines, Fla.

Deleting unread emails

Angela James, Westminster, Md.

Commuting

Eric Maki, Minneapolis