When You Need to be Strong

There is a whole world of difference between being strong and acting strong.

Acting strong is just that. An act. It does not necessarily reflect your true feelings. Sometimes you need to act strong in front of your family or friends because you don’t want to add any more negativity to the already-negative atmosphere and you feel like there is a need to be the ‘positive’ or ‘down-to-earth’ one. You have that desire to be a pillar of strength, an inspiration, or simply a sane person in the midst of turmoil. So you have to act strong. Even though deep inside you’re not. Even though deep inside you’re just as scared as they are, maybe even more. It’s a noble act. To think of others before yourself. Though it can easily go off into the deep end, like worrying about what others might think of you if you show even the smallest sign of weakness.

Now ‘being strong’ is not a clear cut thing. I say that because the way people perceive true strength is variable. Many people see strength in a person who is calm, reserved, and generally well-put together. Or in a person who easily gets back up on his feet even after a major drawback in his life. On the other hand, I also see strength in a person who allows himself to be vulnerable in front of people he trusts. I see strength in a person who cries in the middle of a great calamity in his life or in the lives of others. I see strength in a person who allows himself to feel the suffering that others feel.

I see strength in a person who embraces weakness and deals with it head-on.

You see, you can never know the strength that you have unless you march into battle. You can never know your true strength if you don’t fight, fall, and try to get back up. In the process, strength, true strength, will build, and together with strength, perhaps peace.

The Christian perspective to all of these would be good for another time. But to reiterate what the apostle Paul said:

“For when I am weak, then I am strong.”