Stress is important…

Okay – I know you don’t love the title, but I need you to hear me out before you write me off.

Everyone wants to be great… or at least, I know that I do. The question is, how do you become great? Is it something you are born with or inherit? Is it a gift you receive or something you achieve?

Here’s something I do know: All of the greats that I know of all have one thing in common – they faced overwhelming adversity and despite the odds they somehow overcame. It’s a little ironic because from the outside they are well known for their achievements, but if you were to ask anyone of these individuals what sets them apart I guarantee they would say that the adversity and number of failures are what have refined them.

You see, everyone wants to be defined by their successes, but no one wants to be refined by failure. It is IMPOSSIBLE to be great without going through this process.

With that said, it’s time for a story.

I want to tell you about a project called Biosphere 2 that was based in Arizona. It was a dome that was built to create the perfect conditions for trees, and dangggg was it perfect. The trees grew much more rapidly than they do in the wild, but there was one major problem: when the trees would reach full maturity they began to fall over.

If you are like me, you probably don’t know much about trees. I was honestly shocked to hear this, how could a tree fall over because of its own weight?

Turns out that a necessary component was missing from the trees lives: STRESS. Specifically stress in the form of wind & weather.

Wind and weather is an essential part of the trees lives to create stress wood and harden the bark of the trees. Without the natural inclimate stressors the tree will be ineffective and useless.

Hearing this made me think about all of the times that I have had to deal with the winds and storms of life. Can’t say that I particularly enjoyed dealing with these stressor at the beginning, but something that I learned over time was that the adversity I faced in life made me a stronger, resilient, and more capable individual. The adversity actually formed and improved my character through testing. I was being refined through the process of failure and adversity.

Having become keenly aware of this process early in my life, I coined the phrase “Adversity is the anvil on which great men are forged.”

So don’t hide from the inclimate weather! It may seem like a better option to be shielded from the stressors of life, but without those stressors you may find yourself unequipped to handle the responsibility of your own life, and in that capacity you will let yourself and others down.

To become great, you must overcome great adversity. To overcome great adversity, you must have great failure. To have great failure you must take great risk. Taking risk is the only choice you get to make – the rest is just an essential part of the journey.

Thanks for reading!

Grey Bonin