The load fits the camel(Sotah 13b) 
Gluckel of Hameln writes about a man whom an angel lifted up over his village, so the man could see through the roofs into each house and see what troubles each one had. After consideringeverything he saw, the man asked to be returned to his own place for he could not tolerate anyone else's troubles.
In other words, no one is given more trouble than he can bear.
Something needs to be added to that comment.
Because for people who are going through a high amount of stress, life seems unbearable, and the expression by itself sounds like a trite cliche.
Posted by: yehupitz | March 15, 2010 at 10:08 AM
As a psychiatrist, I have heard more than one patient tell me they used to think that no-one was given more troubles than they could handle.That is a widespread saying among the Gentiles too. They told me they used to believe that, until they became so stressed they literally lost their minds because of it. They were given more than they could handle.
As a result, I never tell people no-one is given more trouble than they can handle.
Posted by: Anonymous | March 15, 2010 at 10:21 AM
As all Talmudic statements, this one is general and would not "cover" every situation. I don't deny that some people break under their burdens and, yes, psychiatric conditions will not be cured with mere reassurance. However, many people, as they mature, find that what they considered unbearable at an earleir stage of their lives was not really so, and that in every stage of their lives, the challenge is maximal to their capacity to bear under it. It is also encouraging to know that there are untapped depths of resources within every individual, and if Hashem thinks so, how much more is it reassuring.
Posted by: avakesh | March 15, 2010 at 12:32 PM
Thanks for the this post. I've been wondering for a while if I've tapped into as much tefillah as I am able to. For what we can bear is based on our relationship with Hashem.
Posted by: Neil Harris | March 18, 2010 at 10:20 PM