They tell the story of a biosphere created in Arizona in 1991, used to study the earth and its living systems. It was a giant dome containing trees, plants, and water features.
After this large biodome had been in use for a while, scientists learned something they weren’t expecting. The trees inside grew at an accelerated rate but never reached full maturity before losing limbs or falling over.
The trees fell over because in nature, trees develop something called “stress wood,” which is basically their reaction to wind.
Wind causes the limbs to sway and move, placing stress on the load-bearing parts of the tree. The tree develops this “stress wood” to compensate, strengthening the tree.
There was no wind in this biodome; therefore, the trees could not develop their stress wood and would collapse under their own weight.
Stress on the tree was necessary to keep it healthy and growing.
The message of this story is clear: Stay calm in times of stress and grow from it.