A new friend came to the door yesterday morning with dark sunglasses on.
It was not sunny out.
These are the glasses that can hold you together. They are something to hide behind.
We don’t need the world to know we have spent the night crying.
And maybe the morning too.
She grabbed my arm and said “I have just got to ask you one question-
“Where do you find your strength?”
I wanted to give her a good and useful answer- something she could take away and employ for herself.
I could not come up with anything. Those who know me know I talk too much I am rarely at a loss for words.
Later I asked my wise teenagers- where do we find our strength?
“We find strength in hardship, in example of greatness, and life experience.” One says.
So you mean we don’t know we are strong or are not strong until life gives us a bit of a beating ? I ask.
The other one says strength comes from choosing. That we find strength because the alternative is not what we want for ourselves.
All of this made me think I have not considered my own strength in a long time. It is just a part of me now. (Now don’t go thinking that does not mean I am not vulnerable– please remember how much I believe in vulnerability)
Where do you find your strength?
yes Sara- difficulty is like secret training isn’t it
that picture is amazing. I think you gather strength from overcoming obstacles. (which is just what Alice said!). Every challenge leaves me feeling like I’m able to overcome the next one that is thrown at me!
yes alice- I could not agree more.
I think a lot of the time we don’t think about it, we just do what needs doing and think later. But later, having done it is a source of strength for future trials. i can’t think how many times I’ve said to myself, when facing something, “If I could do [past thing], I can do this.” It can help us be strong to know we have been strong and come through better for it.
oh yes Chris- where would I be without my chickies. Strength indeed.
I don’t know that I ever “find” strength. It just seems to be there when I need it.
Sometimes I don’t know it was even there until after crisis.
When Eva was having all of her medical complications as an infant my friend told me “Our children give us strength” and I really felt at that time she was right. I did everything I needed to do for her and our other children – because they needed me to.
I also LOVE that photo. What a fantastic idea!
“keeping language simple” I love that. We can turn anything into a full on catastrophe with emotion, hormones, drama and loss of perspective. I can be very good at that.
I think just knowing what you’re going through will not actually kill you, even if it feels like death… I try to see a situation as it really is, and do my best not to project it into “horrific” if I can. Keeping language simple and honest helps too.
Being bulletproof is better though. 😉
Yes, Julie! I agree with your momma.
oh wise teenagers! it’s true though…my mom was talking with some of her friends and they were saying how they’d do it all over but my mom was adamant about never going back and having a re-do. i wouldn’t be who i am today and i really like me she said. yay mom!
and i love your picture by the way….permission to steal the idea for today’s journey to the beach?