“The sun himself is weak when he first rises, and gathers strength and courage as the day gets on.”

       ~ Charles Dickens, The Old Curiosity Shop

I have come to believe that human strength is found in the capacity to accept the reality you’re in. Only then do you stand a chance of managing it. 

Accepting the reality you are in does not mean you’ve raised the white flag of surrender. Just the opposite. BY accepting the realities of your life, you are better able to manage your relationship with each. For example, if you don’t mention that your eyesight has weakened, or perhaps your hearing has weakened, then you won’t get the eyeglasses and you won’t get hearing aids. As a result, the weakened vision and hearing are allowed to reduce your life experience. Rubbish. Neither deserves that kind of decision-making power in your life. When an addict or alcoholic accepts the presence of the addiction, they then have a real chance of getting well. Their strength shines.

Acts of strength (emotional, physical, or spiritual) are never pleasant. (Thus, the need for strength). I can think of no act of strength found in the churn of our daily lives than when a woman gives birth to a child. Pure unfettered strength on display.

Like many, the world around me taught me that my emotional strength shone brightest when I kept emotions like anger, sadness, and fear hidden from view.

I remember news commentators talking about how strong Jackie Kennedy was after her husband, President John F. Kennedy, was assassinated, because she rarely cried when the cameras were on her. What made Jackie Kennedy strong was her capacity to accept the reality she was in and keep going. Crying or not crying had nothing to do with it.  After all, if crying is an act of weakness, what makes it so hard for so many to do?

Lesson? Real acts of strength are never pleasant, that’s why they take strength. Hell, when I’ve watched a weightlifter bench-press a lot of weight, I know he has strength. I also know he is not having fun. I can see the expression on his face.