When are we strongest?
Is it when no one else can see any problems in our lives and we seem invincible? Or is it really when we are able to overcome our pride enough to go to someone and say, “Hey…I need help. I can’t go through this alone”? Are we stronger then?
I once heard a story. In it, a wise man told a young boy that he could fight his fear and win, because he was bigger than his fear. Fear he pointed out, was inside the boy, and surely the boy was bigger than anything inside him. The same could be said of pride. Surely we can be bigger and stronger than our pride. It’s inside us. Surely we can fight it and win.
Sometimes asking for help isn’t what you may think. Sometimes, a person may scream for help in many little ways, not necessarily with their mouth:
- They seek extra attention
- They get quiet
- They act out
- They leave things undone
- They deliberately offend others
All to get someone to realise that they need help to go through their situation. But all too often, it’s not realised and the person continues to walk alone.
So are we stronger when we overcome our pride and ask for help? Admit that we can’t face every obstacle alone?
I think that sometimes strength is misunderstood. If you’re strong, we figure you don’t have to fight any more. All foes should be scared off. But that’s not what it means. Sometimes strength is getting up…again. It’s saying “no” one more time. It’s opening your eyes in the morning, looking yourself in the mirror and deciding that, just for today, you will work your hardest to reach your dreams, no matter the obstacles. It’s being real enough to cry, yet determined enough to keep walking through those tears. It’s looking around you, seeing the world crash in, and being survivor enough to start looking for usable pieces of rubble to rebuild.
Strength isn’t proved by the absence of challenge. It’s proved by how you handle it.
You have two choices: you beat it, or it beats you. So which is it?
