Strength

Nothing is so strong as gentleness. Nothing is so gentle as real strength. –Frances de Sales

You block your dream when you allow your fear to grow bigger than your faith. --Mary Manin Morrissey

I was always looking outside myself for strength and confidence but it comes from within. It is there all the time. --Anna Freud

Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage. -- Lao Tzu

I, with a deeper instinct, choose a man who compels my strength, who makes enormous demands on me, who does not doubt my courage or my toughness, who does not believe me naive or innocent, who has the courage to treat me like a woman. --Anais Nin

How do you define strength? Is it the presence of power? The absence of fear? What about mental power? Is it reserved solely for physical fortitude? Would you define strength as courage? I think that strength is all of these but (to me) it is the ability to stand firm and resilient in crisis but also in a time of peace. Strength is the essence of character when integrity stands as the pillar of virtue. Strength speaks to the character, the heart of a person and illuminates the power within. Strength is not something that is given but something that is built over time through challenging situations. As we build our outer muscles by stressing them and breaking them down we also build mental fortitude through trials and tests. Being strong is more than just having the power to resist something but rather the moral fortitude to withstand the challenges that we are faced with. I do not think of strength in a negative light but rather something that is a positive quality.

Now my next question is what gives you strength? Is it courage? Is it motivation to influence others? Is it simply being stubborn? How about an outside influencer such as a relationship? Do you look outside yourself for strength? In the quote by Anna Ford (above) she suggests that strength comes from within. I believe that fear is the biggest resistance one has against strength. When we are fearful then we block forward progress and allow ourselves to get distracted.

I started thinking about all of this when I began to contemplate what I want to do when I graduate. My life has hung on ‘almost’ for the last several years and now I am finally seeing the finish line ahead of me. I have just a few classes and then I am finished with both degrees which made me fear that I would not know what direction to take when I am done. The job market is awful right now so finding a job has been a huge challenge but at the same time it has given me some new insights about what I want to do. I know where my heart is and I know what I want to do but combining the two in a difficult job market is not something that I wanted to face. I think that I have made the decision for my future and I will move forward into a graduate program but it is not in an area that I thought I would ever consider. Why the change? Well there have been some huge changes in my life that brought me to a crossroads and helped me through the decision making process. I thank God for the pressing and I thank Him, also, for the huge blessings that I have been given. Now I just have to follow His leading into the new phase of life. More to follow….stay tuned!