How strong are you?

Strength comes in many forms.  It can come by having pure physical strength.  A 180 pound man, lifting 225 pounds above his head would be considered strong.  A different type of strength would be a person with stamina.  Another 180 pound man, can lift five pounds over his head, yet he can run a marathon in under three hours… then turn around and run five more miles the next day.  A different type of strength but still very strong.

This type of strength is easy to see.  It’s the other kinds that truly show the strength of a person.  Right off the top of my head, would be a parent who has lost their teenage child to death.  You can see how the person is suffering, yet this parent still goes to work everyday. They see their child’s friends growing up and starting a family of their own.  While their child is an image frozen in time.

A spouse who is battling a life threatening illness, like cancer, shows the strength of both the patient and the caretaker.  The patient, battling their daily pains and fears of the future, sometimes in silence, as they don’t want to burden their loved ones with their insecurities.  While the caretaker goes through their own insecurities.  They are the only bread winner and on their backs, rest the weight of their world.  The caretaker, usually in silence, worries about the house payment, maybe the car payment.  They’re concerned about their loved ones health and whether they are remembering to take all their medications.

Another strength comes through surrender.  There is no larger show of strength than the person who says, “I’m an alcoholic,” “I’m an addict,” “I’m a gambler.”  Whatever the addiction to admit defeat shows how strong a person is.  If you doubt that, than try and put yourself in the addicts mind.  Imagine, as an active alcoholic, a life without alcohol.  Yet, at the same time, imagine a life with it.  That is the loneliest place in the world.  A life with alcohol is destruction.  A life without alcohol is death.  It is fear.  It is at that point when activity ends and sobriety begins, “I am an alcoholic,” that all our strength comes to the surface.

No longer a life run by ego but rather run by humility and gratitude.  How strong are you today?