The word Grace is a household word for all people irrespective of faith system or spirituality, because businesses world over use it for their own transaction purposes, families use it over dinner for table ethics, and many others also use it for purposes akin to their own level of understanding. Therefore, as far as societal understanding goes, religion doesn't have monopoly over the usage of the word. 
So, what's the real meaning of the word grace? It seems to have different definitions according to the theological view point of  its interpreters. Some see it as an Undeserved Favour of God, others the Redeeming Love of God, Loving Kindness of God, and Inner Strength from God. Whatever, the definition, they are all reflecting the love of God for those who come to him. So, it seems grace doesn't have one cast-ironed meaning, because the grace of God, which reflects His love, works in multiple ways to affect the spiritual and physical needs of those who accept His invitation for relationship.

Grace underlines the victory we have in Christ through His Death and Resurrection, the bible says in Ephesians 2:8, that by grace we are saved through faith in Christ.
And the question is, what have we been saved from? there must be a terrifying situation lurking somewhere that we needed to be rescued from, without blindly walking into it. However, the irony about this statement is that the supposed danger is not consciously 'evidential' for all mankind to realise.

The reason is that this is a spiritual statement that must be received by spiritual response, therefore, anyone living outside the confines of this statement, understands the word grace differently- to be just like a wishful prayer statement for blessing over a dinner, or someone with elegant movement to attract on-lookers or admirers, i.e: { this person walks gracefully} or goodwill gesture etc, so for them definition of grace has no special significance to their way of life- not a big deal really!

So, for people to have a spiritual realism to grace, they have to consciously commit themselves in "Faith" to Christ, without thinking less of themselves, or having higher self-evaluation mentality about themselves. Humanity is flawed in any respect, therefore, only faith in Christ credits the divine relationship called Righteousness into our 'spiritual accounts'.
As you accept Christ into your life, you are now a follower of Him through confession of faith, as easy, and simple as that! without any effort made to prove your worth, because righteousness is a gift from God by grace, according Ephesians 2:8, you are now a new creation, your former lifestyle is forgiven, and mindset is renewed to accept new citizenship in Christ.

Now, as a new citizen, problems wouldn't automatically stop, but, and this is a big "BUT", Romans 8:28, states that God can turn any situation, whether good or bad into something positive for your benefit. In life's challenging situations, where there seemed to be no solution, or immediate answers, that's when the grace generates an extraordinary inner strength of the Holy spirit, to cope with the brunt of the bad situation; in 2Corinthians 12:8-9, it implies the 'silent' effect grace has, to control the impact of the pain we might go through, without realising it. 

However, for a person to experience total grace in life, there has to be a change of mindset over the power he or she places on the effect of the problem. Sometimes, the impact of harships, generate a sense of disillusionment over spiritual solution to the problem, because the sense of attack we sometimes experience through frustration makes us see the problem as ultimate in its effect. 2Corinthians 10:3-4, states that our daily challenges are not just physical, but spiritual evilness constitutes the attack, however, with spiritual evilness comes supernatural authority of God to handle the situation, and if we are going to be successful, then, we need to understand the power and authority the supernatural has through the grace of God to question the impact of evil, and God's ability to undermine that evil powers over our lives, to set us free from its hold.

In Isaiah 26:3, says we will experience perfect peace, if our mind stays on God, He will protect us, because our hope is in Him. Understanding what grace is, and its power through Christ to effect our eternal relationship with God, and ability to live 'stress free' life is a key to realising the power of the grace of God, in any direction the definitions take us.