Some thoughts on Strength
We each have a different approach against hopeless odds. and finding our inner strength. Some of us are able to perserve against hopeless odds. Some are able to see light in a world of darkness. Some are able to give selflessly with no thought of return, while others are able to bring a sense of important measure into the hearts of those around them.
But no matter how we exhibit strength, its truest measure is the calm and certain conviction with which it causes us to act. It is the ability to discern the path with heart and follow it even when at the moment we might wish to be doing something else.
True strength is not about force, but about conviction. It lives at the center of belief where fear and uncertainty can not gain a foothold. Its opposite is not cowardice and fear but confusion, lack of clarity and lack of sound intention.
True strength does not require an adversary and does not see itself as noble or heroic. It simply does what it must without praise or need of recognition.
A person who can quietly stay at home and care for an aging parent at home is as strong as a person who can scale a vertical drop mountain. A person who can stand up for a principle is as strong as a person who can fend off an army. They simply have quieter, less dramatic, kinds of strength.
True strength does not magnify others’ weaknesses. It makes others stronger. If someone’s strength makes others feel weaker. It is merely domination, and that is no strngth at all.
Take care to find your own strength. Nurture it. Develop it. Share it with those around you. Let it become a light for those who are living in darkness.
Remember, strength based in force is a strength people fear. Strength based in love is a strength people crave.
His voice touches places inside me like someone moving through a house, flicking light switches. … And even if it was dark and there was shellfire or an arctic gale blowing, I’d still be able to understand him, because our thoughts nestle against each other, like pigeons on a wire. –Geraldine McCaughrean, The White Darkness