“Only through the experience of trial and suffering
can the soul be strengthened, vision cleared, ambition inspired and success
achieved.”
This observation by Helen
Keller, the outstanding American author, educator, political and social
activist is made even more poignant by the fact that her remarkable success and
universal respect was achieved in spite of the fact that she was deaf and blind
almost from birth, and was only able to communicate by use of touch and sign
language. Despite all the physical and psychological handicaps she encountered
throughout her lifetime, her strength of character, her courage and her
determination were exemplary in every way. Indeed she was, in every respect, a tower of strength.
Being strong is not about the possession of physical
strength, nor is it about facing obstacles however difficult these may be. It
is certainly not an index of age, experience, degree of intelligence or status.
These are, like so many other factors we deal with in our lifetime, merely
external facades that can be added or shed at the individual’s convenience. Being
strong is not measured by how much a person is able to withstand before he breaks,
and is most certainly not about winning at all cost. Whatever others may
believe, it will never be achieved by use of deceit and fictitious claims under
any circumstance. These are merely ‘false strengths’ that others use to persuade
us to accept them, as they take advantage of the inherent weaknesses that exist
in the minds and bodies of the rest. Again being strong is not about being
blindly brave all the time, without any respect to the challenge, or to falsely
acting as if nothing gives rise to concern, and recklessly going forward
without regard to the consequences. This
is folly!
Being
strong is about holding on to your belief when all else crumbles. It is about
standing on moral principles and values even when they hurt, and about being
willing to accept responsibility for your mistakes without finding excuses. It
is also about learning from past experiences and growing in maturity. It is
certainly not just only knowing your strengths and making full use of them, but
equally, it is recognizing your weaknesses and embracing them. It is not
winning at all cost, but rather always doing the right thing, irrespective of win
or loss.
Being
strong is not only about having to withstand a challenge and moving forward,
but also, whenever necessary, taking the time and effort to help others to do
so. Being strong is not doing everything to avoid pain and suffering, but
rather, when the occasion arises, to accept them as the price of living, and to
use the experience as a beacon of help that others can follow. Henry Ward Beecher, the 19th
century American clergyman, social activist and abolitionist very effectively
summarized the true impact of being strong in these terms:
“Greatness lies not in being strong, but in the
right using of strength; and strength is not used rightly when it serves to
carry a man above his fellows for his own solitary glory. He is the greatest,
whose strength carries up the most hearts by the attraction of his own.”
-In fact the strongest men in this
world are not the ones who move mountains, but the ones who move the hearts and
minds of the people.
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