Facing adversity and challenges transforms people in ways that help them grow. Whenever a challenge is faced, the first response of the body is stress so that the body becomes ready. Stress has been the focus of much negative connotation due to the changes it causes in the behavior and body-functioning of people. But the converse should be true, as stress is the body's response to a particular situation that ultimately leads to the individual growing.

In recent years, there have been many research projects and discoveries about how to cope with stress and what stress is. Stress is just the body's response to anything that changes our daily routine or disturbs the inner equilibrium of our body. There is an excess in the number of articles online that tell people how to "deal" with stress. But when an individual is under stress, reading a long article or listening to someone list ways to ease the stress is essentially of no help. The thing that will help them is a way to overcome the thing that is causing them stress.

Every person has a different view of the world that is entirely dependent on the way they perceive life and different situations they encounter. The same idea applies to stress, stress can become the secret ingredient for your growth as an individual or become the cause of your death before you retire. Whenever a problem is encountered, most individuals start to think "Why is this happening to me?" "What have I done to deserve this?" and other pointless questions. The better way to tackle a problem and stress would be to try to think "what can I do now?" and "How can I make things better?". Often it is forgotten that everyone has a circle of control that includes things they can change or do differently. The things that come under this circle are the only things I think about whenever I am faced with a problem. Instead of trying to figure out why something is happening to me, which is not in my control, I will think about what I can do or what I can change to make this better.

Although doing either of the things listed above in response to a problem will cause stress, the stress caused by trying to make things better is the secret ingredient for growth!