Facing adversity and enduring pain

A few years ago, a smartphone video surfaced of a guy being tracked by a cougar in a canyon near Provo, Utah. It was something like six to ten minutes long. Crazy to watch. You might have seen it because it was viral in a micro sort of way. 

I can only imagine what this guy was thinking as the cougar would make a charge at him, back off, charge him again, and back off. Can you fathom what his heart rate might have been at? All while he himself recorded the encounter and he survived it.

I mentioned that video to my father-in-law a few months back since he lives in Utah and he's a legend to everyone in the family as a tough and hardened guy. 

"You know the first thing you have to do to fight a mountain lion?" He asked me. 

"Of course I don't," I replied. "Make loud noises? Try to scare it off? Stay upright? I don't know." 

"No, first you have to set your mind to endure pain. You need to have prepared your mind to keep fighting after a rush of pain, because you may experience it and it may be significant and it will take your mind off of what you need to do next." 

Something to that effect.

If you don't decide in advance how you're going to handle adversity, if you haven't set your mind right in advance, adversity is going to decide for you how you're going to handle it and it's probably not going to be productive. 

Your emotions in the moment, your panic in the moment, will overwhelm your thinking clearly and doing what you need to do next. Really good advice. 

Can you set your mind in advance to deal with the pain and adversity you're going to face in life? Because it does happen.