You're Stronger Than You Think
You Have always been stronger
Sometimes you won’t discover that until you have no other choice than to find out.
Think about the journey your life has taken so far. As you reflect on your path, you will see there have been many ups and downs. There have probably been times you questioned if you had enough strength to overcome the challenges you faced. You may look at others who struggled in similar situations and assumed they were braver if their outcome was better. That is usually not the case, though, no matter what the results were. There are many influences and experiences in a person’s life that sit in the background and are unnoticed by those around them, but they play a role in our ability to stand tall. These experiences create the obstacle course that we must navigate to participate in the world and that is where our strength really comes from. We overcome the shapeshifting influences left by other people, events, failures as well as our own past decisions.
Like everyone else, you probably have had to wade through disappointment and loss many times. Have you had your feelings crushed in rejection because you were willing to love? Have you watched someone special leave this world? Have you been told you have a disease? Have you been injured and seen your world change? Throughout your journey of life’s challenges, have you stayed down more often or stood back up? If so, you are not alone.
If I were to do a quick summary review of the challenges of my life, my initial opinion would probably be that I stayed down more than I stood back up. I can look at choices I didn’t make because of fear of failure or judgement and view that as staying down. I can look at choices I did make that failed. But then I can look again, longer this time, through the lenses of LOVE. I can see that I did survive hard moments in my life that took bravery no one else will ever understand or value. I can see where I did stand back up and accomplished many victories. I learned to overcome a mindset of lack and find a way to participate in seasons of my life when I blindly didn’t know what I didn’t know. I worked two jobs in college while my mother worked three to make sure I graduated, the first one in my family to do so. I can see the strength it took to raise my children. I stood stunned when I was told I had cancer twice, but I faced and endured each treacherous path. I can see that my story has strength. Your story does too. You may have to look through your own lenses of love to see it, but it is there more than you realize.
Most likely, you have traveled through challenges that have taught you more than you remember. They brought you moments of resilience and strength as you overcame obstacles whether big or small. Every time you picked yourself back up, someone was watching, it was YOU. Every time you stayed down in defeat, YOU watched how long you stayed down. YOU learned new things about yourself with each stepping stone of effort you made.
We may discount some of our experiences because we didn’t feel particularly strong at the moment they were happening, but they added value to our lives. Perhaps the final outcome was not what we envisioned. But hindsight will often reveal the truth, we were brave to show up and step with all the weight of our lifetime of influences. There really is bravery thread throughout the tapestry of our lives in one form or another because we are willing to grow. New discoveries are waiting for us as we begin to let go of the baggage that weigh us down.
Are you facing an obstacle today? Are you wanting something in your life that your self-doubt or procrastination is holding you back from? Are you waiting for a lightning bolt of bravery to hit you or the circumstances to be perfect before you try? You are only harming yourself and one day you will look back on THIS SEASON of time. What will you see? Did you step? Did you coast through another year? If you want to make a change in a new direction, trust that there is a reason you want it and it doesn’t have to make sense to anyone else but you. Trust that no matter the outcome, YOU are watching yourself take steps without a guarantee of results. You are stronger because of the courage it requires to look towards an obstacle and step anyway.
Whatever comes along on your journey that makes you question your strength, remember you never walk alone. God has been with you for all of your days and He is still by your side. He has watched you, carried you and soothed your wounds. Maybe you felt His presence or maybe you couldn’t feel His strength, but He was there. His Word promises to use all things for good. Trust his promises. Trust that He has your hand and with your strength AND His, STEP.
Life is precious. Each day will come and go never to be repeated. Make each one count for something that brings you hope and joy. Enjoy your life. Be present. Be strong. You are stronger than you think.