Strength

Strength - What is that? What’s it like? How does it show in your character, your behavior?

Whenever i feel at my lowest and i am struggling real hard with whatever comes my way,

there’s some people that tell me i am strong

And i wonder what that even means

i do think it’s nice of them to say

and i want to believe they mean it when they do

It’s just i can’t see it myself

so how can it be true?

What does it mean to be “strong”?

Here are some of the answers i could come up with:

To be strong is having fears and not letting them stop you

Being strong is daring to be independent

To be strong is making your own choices

Being strong is being exhausted but pushing through anyway

To be strong is daring to be different

Being strong is being broken, but somehow manage to hold the scattered pieces in place

To be strong is wanting to give up, trying to give up, only to encounter your own strength and God's, reminding you why you held on for so long in the first place

To be honest, sometimes the words “strength” and “being strong” really tick me off

i wonder: How can everybody see my strength and i just can’t?

i can’t see it, i can’t feel it..

The discrepancy makes me question myself and the world

And sometimes i don’t want to be strong.

i just want to cry, curl up in a corner

and maybe try to let someone hold me close

yeah, sometimes i can relate to this quote so much..

Trying to find some answers to the questions i started this blog post with, i looked up some quotes on being strong. These are the ones that stood out to me:

You don’t know how strong you are, until being strong is the only choice you have ~ Unknown

A quote i have heard many times, and i believe i have used it also.. But now i think about it again.. i’m not really sure what to make of it. How does it answer my question about what it means to be “strong”? i don’t know.

Being strong doesn’t mean that you can handle every difficult situation on your own, it means that you have the sense to ask God and others for help ~ Nishan Panwar

That’s a hard one for me. i’m not good at asking for help.. But if that really is the (only) meaning of being strong, than people are really wrong whenever they talk about me being strong.

Being strong means rejoicing in who you are, complete with imperfections ~ Margaret Woodhouse

i don’t see myself rejoicing in who i am.. So that would indicate i’m not a very strong person.. Or maybe this is just another facet of the concept “to be strong” and there’s no ONE way to be strong and show your strength?

i’d like to end this blog post with an excerpt from the lyrics to one of my favourite songs about Being Strong. ~ It’s a song by Matthew West, called “Strong Enough”

Cause i'm broken
down to nothing
But i'm still holding on to the one thing
You are God
and You are strong
when i am weak

i know i'm not strong enough to be
everything that i'm supposed to be
i give up
i'm not strong enough
Hands of mercy won't You cover me
Lord, right now i'm asking You to be
Strong enough

i find comfort that – whether people think i’m strong or not, whether i am strong or not – the Lord is my Strength.

He is strong enough for the both of us.

And He wants to be strong enough for you, too.

Isaiah 40:29