Focus on
Strength
May you
remember to call upon it whenever you need it.
Consider
some of the many aspects of the gift of strength expressed in these
quotes:
“I was always looking outside myself for strength
and confidence but it comes from within. It is there all the
time.”—Anna Freud
“Nothing is so strong as gentleness, and nothing is
so gentle as true strength.”—Ralph Sockman
“Rudeness is the weak man's imitation of
strength.”—Eric Hoffer
“Everyone should carefully observe which way his
heart draws him, and then choose that way with all his
strength.”—Hasidic Saying
In her
book, Still Woman Enough, Loretta Lynn says, “When you look
back over your life and see how much you’ve had to face, and how
you’ve dealt with it, it’s interesting to try and pinpoint the first
time you faced something that might tear you apart. The first time
you had to reach inside yourself and pull out strength you didn’t
know you had, strength that hadn’t even been needed until then.”
For reflection, journaling and discussion
Do you
consider yourself to be a “strong” person?
When
have you used strength to complete a project?
To
face a challenge? To follow a dream? To be present in a situation?
What
“makes you strong?”
What
are your “tools” for strength?
How do
you access strength when you face a challenge?
From
what activities do you draw strength?
What
nourishes you? What stirs a feeling of empowerment?
Is there an area in your life where you would like
more strength to flow?
When
feeling fear, remember:
“If
I’m afraid, it doesn’t mean that I’m not brave.
And if
I doubt, it doesn’t mean that I’ve lost faith.
And if
I fall, if doesn’t mean I can’t go on.
And if
I cry, it doesn’t mean that I’m not strong."
--
Jana Stanfield & Karen Taylor-Good, Doesn’t Mean That I’m Not Strong
from Jana
Stanfield’s CD, Brave Faith
