Are you stronger than you know?

File Under: What Condition Our Condition Is In

Copyright (c) 2011 Kevin Murphy

For anyone who just wants the CliffsNotes® version: yes. Go on about your day with your bad self. For the rest of us a perceived deficit of strength may really ignore an actual deficiency in a more specific skill, such as patience, foresight, or follow-through. When in your heart you believe, ‘I am not strong enough,’ your mind could be trying to communicate you simply need missing skills, reinforcement, enhancement, and support. The important thing to remember is that as individuals we are all capable of seeing any task through, because strength or the lack thereof, is considerably relative and primarily a state of mind.

It is only when brought to the very limits of possibility, the absolute threshold of what we believe we can bear are we ever truly able to see how strong we are. Just as a muscle not pushed beyond its limitations gains no strength from trivial exercise, neither do we as people progress without struggle. We have the benefit that our limits exist only in our minds, hearts, and spirit. When your emotional-spiritual muscle begins to feel the burn, revel in the heady feeling of being overwhelmed and near breaking; and know that true growth and progress is at hand.

When speaking of the mind, heart, and spirit some truth resides in the cliché aphorism that whatever does not kill you only makes you stronger. The caveat is that the ultimate outcome of the situation is largely dependent on the attitude, will, and fortitude of the individual. This is the moment you muster all your bravery, all your wisdom, and all your perseverance. You stand up, you push through the pain and the frustration, you find a way to get beyond your obstacles, and you prove to yourself the true measure of strength.

I dedicate today’s blog to the peoples of the world currently engaged in ongoing struggles for peace, freedom, and equality; especially the many nations and people who's revolution is fought maybe only in their hearts, out of the eyes of the media and the affluent nations of the world. Let us also not forget the nations and peoples dealt a mighty physical, emotional, and spiritual blow by natural catastrophes as they attempt to find the strength, resources, and support to recover and rebuild. Finally, to the poor, downtrodden, oppressed, disenfranchised, neglected, misused, abused, and lonely here at home – you too are stronger than you know.