Finding Strength Within

Is it just ME, or are you, too, blessed to have someone, anyone, in your life who always seems to find their way through even the most difficult circumstances?

Ever blessed, I have had and have many such people in my life.  Through their examples,I have learned that little is impossible when the purpose, the passion and the plan are well aligned.

Recently, a member of TheIWLA sent me an article she had written; it speaks to that need, that ability to find the strength within.

I share that article with you, as written by Jacqueline Roche

Finding Strength Within

When asked to define strength most people would opt to say it is the ability to defeat a person or situation.

When in reality it is being in control of yourself, of your reactions and what you let penetrate your heart and your mind. It is about rising above a person or a situation mentally and veering your thoughts towards optimism no matter how strong the current rises against you. Having inner strength is believing that you possess the most vital weapons there ever existed right within yourself; heart and soul. And with all of the heart and soul you demonstrate, you give the very best of you to every situation, every day.

I have always been an avid believer in the logic behind the statement, “the glass is always half full”. We spend so much of our time focusing on the things we don’t have, and worrying about situations that probably won’t ever happen. If we were to let optimism and happiness over-come our minds as fast as we let fear and regret, we would undoubtedly lead richer, fuller lives. There is such a wondrous beauty in real happiness and inner strength. A genuine smile of confidence gleams of fortitude and resilience.

True strength within a person is not holding your past and other people accountable for your own mistakes, and realizing your life is a direct result of what you have ultimately done, or let happen, regardless of the severity of situations around you. Strength comes from seeing possible in the impossible and rising above assumptions.

Although fear itself is real, it is also a mere state of mind. It is the one thing that can delineate a person, because it threatens our peace. It instills a sense of uncertainty. It causes us to reduce the size of our own beliefs and magnify the opinions and words of other people. When we begin to compromise with fear, we put our resilience in jeopardy. What we seldom realize, is just how powerful our mind really is. We don't give ourselves enough credit for our strength. We seem to forget, more often than not, that we may not have control of everything and everyone else around us, but we have full control of ourselves. If you let the roots of fear manifest themselves into your mind, you have allowed the outside world to gain control of who you are. It will try to define you are by challenging your fortitude.

 As vicious and unmerciful as an enemy outside of ourselves may seem, there is no greater challenge than the one we face when we battle a fear within ourselves. Unlike an enemy, we can’t simply walk away from our words and our thoughts. In fact, they echo the loudest at the peak of our silence and solitude. It takes learning to free ourselves of regret, free ourselves of pessimism and shake off negative energy, to really found our own strength.

A few months ago, I found this inner strength. I made several life changing decisions to better my life, more importantly, my sons life. We took a leap of fate together into our happiness and there has been no looking back. I learned to be strong enough to love every inch of myself just the way I am. I learned to live alone and to love my life. Instead of depending on another person to safe-guard my hopes and dreams, I went out beyond my comfort zones to reach them myself. It took facing fears and my own reflection, but I did it. Most people can't fathom the idea of being alone because they feel lonely, but you never truly are. You have an entire universe to explore within yourself, thoughts and ideas that are worth more than gold, but never voiced. Be busy. Be so busy following those ideas that you don't have time to be alone. Follow your dreams so attentively, that you lose track of time. That is strength and happiness. Getting so lost in the love you have for life that you completely forget to be lonely.

So, IS it just me, or do you, too realize that you DO know someone who has the ability to dig deep and come through difficult times, often while feeling alone?  Perhaps you realize YOU have used such strength to see it through trying times.  While I hope such times do not come your way too often, please know that within you, within every woman, is the instinct to survive and pull others through with you.

Thank you Jacqueline