When you hear the words strong and strength, you are probably picturing people that can lift weights. Strength is not always visible. Being strong is not always about a physical act. I know because every one of you reading this is strong. Strength is waking up in the morning and getting out of bed. A sign of strength is stepping foot out of your home and into the daylight. Being strong is making it through the last 24 hours and the 24 hours before. Strength is giving a friend a hug when they need one, even though you want to scream inside.
Who me?
Even if you are someone like me that has a hard believing it, we are all strong. I know because we face each day as they come. No matter what tries to knock us down or beat us up, we keep moving forward. Every day we try. Try to push ourselves to get out of bed. Continue to try and get out of the house, even for a minute. Every day we take steps to care for our family, complete our jobs, finish our schooling, or just exist.
Strength to keep moving
Remember when I told you how my friends and family described me as being strong. I didn’t understand how they could see that in me. Mainly, because I did not feel it. Every day for a long time now, I have been getting up, taking care of my family and their needs as I got ready for work. Put in a full day’s work at the office, came home to make dinner and then homework for the boy and rest before bed. Add in my own homework, writing this blog each week, and then my dad getting sick, and it filled up every minute of my life. To me, I saw no other choice but to keep moving. I did not know of any other way to go through my day.
Simple and subtle signs of strength
Each one of us is strong. Because we keep moving. And here is the biggest message I want to say in this week’s blog…if you struggle one day, cannot get out of bed that day, even want to give up…you still have strength in you. You are still strong! Want to know why? Simple…a part of being strong is recognizing that you will have down days. Even on those really, really bad days and you are wanting to give up…there is a part of you that is strong. (Myths about youth suicide)
All in the mind
Strength is a mindset. But it is also more than that. It is a drive within us that tells us to keep going. No matter what. We must keep moving. It is also very possible that we use up our strength over time when we are faced with severity. That is where our friends and family, and even the community can help. We all have some people in our life that we can lean on to help rebuild our strength up. To help remind us that we are not alone.
Being strong is not going to be easy. At times, you may not even realize you are doing it. But remember that all it takes is one step. Each day, take one step forward. It won’t be long before that strength will get you past that mountain that was once in front of you.
With great warmth,
