strength

where does strength come from? i have been told throughout different points in my life that i am a strong person. webster's defines strength as "capacity for exertion or endurance; the power to resist force; the power of resisting attack." i think that those are fine definitions, but that definition is not personal enough for me. i think that strength is something that is bestowed upon you, it is something that overwhelms your character at time. strength is found within and not something that is solely defined by brute force. strength comes from this inner place where peace is found. i feel that peace is the precursor to strength. if your soul is not settled, then strength will not emerge. i think you have to come to this place of acceptance and peace in your life to have strength. i know the times that i feel the strongest are those times when i am quiet and still. you need strength to face the day, but we have to be careful that our strength is founded on something and in something that will not be shaken.

often we feel tired, like we have to carry our burdens and we have to be strong on our own accord. we feel like strength emerges from us because of us. this is what the world teaches everyone. you have to be strong, you have to pull yourself out of this, you have to lift yourself up. strength has become all about us, all about the individual. i believe this is false. i believe that when you think you can do it all on your own and when you state you have done it all on your own and that you need no one or nothing else, you are living in a lie. far too often we get caught up in this lie and it will bring you to your knees.

strength does come from an inner place, but that strength is instilled in us by another...strength is taking the plunge even when you are not sure there is anything to catch you if you fall...but you have the hope and peace that something is there you...so the strength comes and you take the plunge...

do you not know?
have you not heard?
the lord is the everlasting god,
the creator of the ends of the earth.
he will not grow tired or weary,
and his understanding no one can fathom.
he gives strength to the weary
and increases the power of the weak.
even youths grow tired and weary,
and young men stumble and fall;
but those who hope in the lord
will renew their strength,
they will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not grow faint.
~ isaiah 40:28-31