I was talking to one of my friends just a few days ago, and she got me thinking.

She was telling me about all the problems in her life and how bad she was feeling and that it seemed that the universe just kept piling problem after problem after problem on her and she felt she was going to snap any day.

Yet she hasn't yet, and is still going strong, coping with it all. In fact, it's not starting to ease off and get better.

This made me think. I had gone through periods in my life where I thought the universe was ganging up against me and trying to wear me into the ground. Yet I got through it all. I remember in one of my worst times, a close friend of mine had a stroke and I remember visiting her in hospital and thinking, "How is she coping? I could never cope with that."

Then one night whilst watching the Discovery channel I put two and two together and got forty two.

I love Archaeology, and living in England we are literally swimming in it. In this particular show they were recreating how Iron Age man would have made a sword.

The blacksmith, when asked why he was heating and then cooling the blade said something very similar to this, "This process is called tempering. It's where you stress the metal in order to make it stronger."

As you can imagine, I perked up at this and realisation dawned upon me.

The Blacksmith deliberately stresses the blade of a sword so he can make it stronger.

Perhaps it is the same in life?

I then started to review some of the stress points that I had had in my life, and then I realised that it was true. If I hadn't have had these stresses then I would not be as strong as I am. I wouldn't be the person I am if it wasn't for these "bad" episodes in my life.

I began phoning around my friends, and asking them questions about this and realised it was true for them.

We go through all sorts of trials in our life because we are being tempered; made stronger for our purpose in life. I can now look back at many of the once negative events in my life and see how they have made me stronger and created the person I am today.

Another thing I realised whilst interviewing these people was that we are never given more than we can handle. I couldn't handle the stroke, yet my friend could. Perhaps she couldn't have handled some of the things in my life.

You will undoubtedly have stresses in your life, but instead of fighting them, embrace them as they are making you stronger. Understand too that you are never given more than you can handle, so that "insurmountable" challenge you are facing is in fact something you can handle and overcome ... maybe just with a change of perspective.

About the author:

Jason E. Johns is a personal success coach specializing in helping you to achieve your dreams through an innovative and compassionate approach. Discover how you can life your dream life at his self help website, www.SanjoPublishing.com