Ownership

I Know...

that Strength of Will

is the single-most

important,

powerful,

useful,

and reliable

energy and asset

that we have.

It's ever-present,

waiting for us to discover it,

believe in it,

and fully embrace it.

Within each of us

exists the capability

to do what is needed...

if only we will See it,

Accept it,

and Choose it.

Make yourself proud, today!

Seen and Unseen, Echoes and Smoke

We aren't ever completely what we seem to be.
The world has far more grey than we acknowledge.

We might be misconstrued as bold because we
seem tough-as-nails.

We might appear callous because we're focused.

Others might interpret independence as disinterest.

But the people who appear to have it made--who
seem to have no trouble doing the tough stuff--
generally are just stepping into the shoes and
letting it happen.

Every single day that I get up, I feel all of the dredge
and flotsam pulling at me and tempting me, but I
make a choice as to what way I'll go and what
response I'll have. Getting up isn't easy, but I
do it. Leaving the house is agony, but I do it.
Dealing with people and all the inanities and all
the nonsense--I hate it. But I do it, and push through.

And every time it gets easier to overcome. It doesn't
disappear, but it gets easier. As I find I am more
capable than I thought I was, I recognize my strengths
and build on them. Strength, courage, ability...
they may not be innate, but that doesn't make them
inaccessible.

I am not limited to what I see myself as capable of;
I can do what I need to.

I  am not fearless;
I choose to walk through fear.

I am not invulnerable;
I choose to endure, anyway.

I am not as strong as others;
I choose not to restrict myself with that.

I am not the most accomplished;
I choose to be content within myself.

I am not understood or accepted by most;
I choose to appreciate me.

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"But what had really happened was...."

There's what you see, what I see, what I think you see,

what you think I see, what others think happened, what

others say they think happened, what really happened,

the part we're capable of understanding having really happened,

and so on. No wonder every one's confused!

***

It's meant as compliment I'm sure, but there is a line of

commenting that rather irks me; It goes like this:

 "You're so strong--look at what you've been through"

or

"You're so much stronger than I am.  I couldn't do

what you can," or some variation thereof.

 

Well, I'm still going through shit, just like everyone else.

Comments like that are an exit strategy, an effort to

forego the responsibility of facing what we are all capable

of facing, within ourselves.

 

It's choice. All the way, choice...and not at all easy.

 

I have been in the deepest, darkest depths, consumed by

grief, loneliness, depression, despair...devoured by my

circumstance and a lack of any insight on how to get out

from under.

 

I have been confused, full of doubt, wavering, aimless,

feeling no sense of worth...the bullshit of life and the attacks

of others threatening to extinguish my fight. I am not invulner-

able, nor dispossessed of a soul. I have felt these things.

 

Bit by painful bit, learning new ways, realizing my doubt

and despair and fear were learned and could be unlearned.

I made it through. Choosing to believe in myself to make it

possible.

 

I became stronger by choosing to be stronger, and that

started the process of transformation.

 

That's the message I have; we are not limited to what we

were or the worst we believe about ourselves. We are not

predetermined for weakness. We go where the belief and

commitment lies, and it can start with nothing but a faint and

inconsistent effort...struggling, barely heard, returning again

and again.

 

If I made it look easy, remember to not be so easily fooled!

 

I possess nothing that isn't in every one of us;

Nothing is as it seems.

 

Greatness isn't divined or imparted, it isn't a gift of birth;

it's taken by force. No one can grant it to you but you.

 

Find your inner strength today. Dare to.

 

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