“Being strong does not mean enduring hardship, challenge, and loss.
Being strong means you hold steady in the truth of Life. . . and allow.
Being strong means you give yourself permission to feel your feelings, to name and acknowledge all the emotional energies that surface.
Being strong means you allow and accept whatever you feel, giving those feelings your attention so they can dissipate.
Being strong means you love yourself with all your might, so you can show up with that power in your heart. . .
Being strong grants you the gift of Being present in the moment where God, Love, and Life unite!”
To endure is to tolerate, to put up with, to suffer, to bear, to become resigned to. When we endure, we choose to stay stuck in trauma. Our resistance traps us in our limited-ness. We are continuously triggered by the oppressive energy of repetitive negative thinking.
When we are empowered from within, from our connection to a higher power, our source, God - we need not endure anything.
When you give yourself permission to trust your inner wisdom and to allow whatever circumstance you may be experiencing, you may find you are both grounded and fluid at the same time.
Identifying what you feel, naming it, and allowing its energy to be expressed (without judgement or resistance,) frees the chaos that bubbles up in reaction to your trigger.
When you release your need to control your feelings and let go of judging what you feel at any given moment - you experience freedom!
You can honor yourself and recognize that your feelings are a part of who you are. They will not define you unless you resist feeling them.
When you focus on loving rather than judging yourself, you open up a clarity and compassion that can direct and empower you through love.
Growing up I thought asking for help meant I was weak. That I had to hide in my weakness to protect myself. That I had to endure and press on, keeping my fear and secrets well hidden.
Pretending. . .
Have you ever felt this way?
No other secret than that of my alcohol and cocaine addiction demonstrated more vividly - my own belief in my personal weakness.
The more I fed my addiction, the deeper I dug my hole of despair. The harder I worked to stay in front of the consequences of my drinking, the greater the evidence I uncovered for my judgement. (and everyone else’s)
I was unable to break free on my own. When my family initiated an intervention, there was nothing I could do but surrender. I felt hopeful for the first time in years.
Today I know asking for help is a strong courageous action to take.
When you ask for help it opens up all kinds of doors. Not just with others but with your faith and belief in yourself. It moves you off the edge, and into the strength you own that has been buried.
Sometimes being strong simply means being willing. Willing to surrender, willing to change. Perhaps even being willing to accept the help and support of another.
Not all of us get to a place where we can ask for help. Sometimes we just can’t accept the help that is being offered. We are lost in ignoring our grief, fighting our anger, punishing our shame, or being consumed by our resentment.
Louise Hay shared her wisdom on surrendering. She broke it down for us by offering a baby step to practice. This is my take on what I learned from her.
The greatest step forward is willingness. And if you cannot be willing,
practice becoming willing to be willing.
It is easier to be strong when you know you are not alone. Whatever challenge, hardship or loss you are experiencing, offers you an invitation to realign with your source of strength.
In sobriety I’ve had the support of others traveling this same path. For 36 years I’ve chosen to surrender daily - to be honest, open minded and willing. I practice mindfully living a day at a time. Leaving the past in the past, and refraining from projecting my feelings into the future.
Our strength returns and fortifies when we choose to live in the present.
Here we trust our connection to God and remember the truth of who we are. In our relationship with our higher power, source, God, we are willing to move through whatever Life presents to us.
We know unconditional love, and with reverence, we Celebrate all of Life!