Being Strong

Cindy posted something on Facebook this morning about how adversity makes us the strong person we are.  So true!  There aren't too many people who go through life on a cloud of perfection with no problems to overcome.  We suffer through broken hearts, deaths, illnesses, and many other losses.  If we come through these relatively intact, we are stronger for it.

The losses will affect us for the rest of our lives, though, and we'll be different people coming out than we were going in.  If we have good character and common sense, the new us will be a tougher, better version of the old.  If we are of weak character, we might take a path that will lead us down a darker road.  It's always our personal choice in the end.  Do we crawl up or do we allow ourselves to be dragged down?

There was a time in my life when I was so broken I thought I'd never recover.  I remember that time vividly and it was only by a miracle that I survived it.  And, yes, I came out stronger by far.  It scares me sometimes to think how easy it would have been to give in and stop struggling.  Adversity does tire us out.

I know some incredibly strong people who have survived much more than I have.  I admire them immensely.  It's surprising to see just what we human beings are capable of overcoming and maybe we don't give ourselves enough credit when we emerge from the fire.  It is all uphill from then on because we had to have gained strength along the way.  It will be harder to drag us back down from here on in.

Stay strong!