I am stronger in the bonds of love than I could ever be alone, yet it was my time alone that taught me how to become strong enough to accept such bonds.
Once I was a boat at sea, searching for safe harbour in every storm. Then one day I realised that I had become the harbour and I could provide shelter for others.
I take that part of me that is broken and make it a ghost, a ghost that falls away and becomes nothing. What remains is myself, strong and ready to move on. For this is the power of love, the power to kiss goodbye and move on with grace and certainty, eyes forward and heart ready for what goodness comes my way.
I'm strong; I can stand alone and take care of everything I need to... so all I need from this is a sense of mutual love and nurture. I want someone with me when the sun gives way to the stars and when it returns to reignite the colours of the daytime. All I want is your kisses, your hugs and that smile I can see in your eyes. Be my rest, be my Sunday best and together will be each other's comfort in any storm.
To be strong is my choice. Strong isn't being free of fear, quite the opposite. Strong is seeing all the issues and problems with no self deception, no soft filters. It is feeling the anxiety in full measure, acknowledging the fear, and still making the right choices. It is owning your own errors and using them to make yourself a better person. It means going forwards doing your very best for others, considering the self at a lower priority. Yet at times it takes true strength to look after oneself too; if to carry on would leave a you unable to care for those you hold most dear, a change to care for the self is brave and right. We are all born to survive, to protect those we love, to be the angels of our better natures. All of this is strength. Know it. Be strong too. I believe in you.
They say to lose the ego is the path to selflessness and helping others. It makes no sense to me. It is akin to saying a person isn't trusted and so the answer is to starve them. I am strong because I have a strong ego. It is because I have massive self esteem that I am able to help others. My healthy ego says, "I am great; I am a hero; my duty is to save others and help them to be strong, resilient, happy, fulfilled. "I" and "we" aren't mutually exclusive - they are inter-dependent. Without "I" we lose our way, fail to compete and bring out the best we can be. Without "we" there is no society, community, and again, we lose our way. I say to be strong, have a robust sense of self and let it fuel your desire to be of service to others, to support them in developing their own greatness.
Often in life I have been called strong. Though I know they mean it as a complement my heart sinks and there is a wave of sadness in my soul when I hear it. For what I show is a forced resiliency, a way I've had to be my entire life just to survive. I've always wanted to find a good life, to be truly happy and for that I knew I must carry on, to keep walking through every pain and hurt. What I want is to be soft, and for softness to be alright. I want to be helpful and do what it is my soul and heart need to be healed. I believe in service, not servitude. I believe giving of the self, of giving always with love, yet I've learnt that I have limits. To call a person strong or brave sounds so nice, but if in reality they are like a horse being run to death and praised for its speed and beauty, there is a cruelty to it. From my beginnings I knew that crying summoned another person to inflict pain, so why cry? "If you cry I'll give you something to cry about." So please don't look at my dry face and tell me I'm strong, because it hurts.