Strength

That John F. Kennedy dude was pretty smart. He once said:  "Do not pray for easy lives.  Pray to be stronger."   For the past three years I have done both and I must admit that I still wish for the bus to run over Mr. Trouble, back up, and run over him again.  (If it ever happens, I might feel bad for about, oh I don't know, maybe a day). Yet, Mr. Trouble doesn't go away, so Ms. Tenacious simply pulls her head out of the hole in the ground and wipes off her face.  Louis Pasture would be proud because he said "My strength lies solely in my tenacity."   While you go through it, especially when you lift the weights side-by-side with family and friends, it sure doesn't feel like muscles are building; it feels like the strength is buried beneath the rubble of all that fell around you.  You know what the Japanese would say right? They'd say listen to this proverb:  "Fall down seven times, stand up eight."  My personal favorite thought when it comes to standing up and finding strength and living was spoken by an unknown author: "Do not be afraid of tomorrow; for God is already there." It's impossible not to find the strength and tenacity to stand up for the eighth time if you are aware of this truth.

Sometimes recognizing that others have gone through their own battles, are going through their own crushing trials helps with the fear; it boxes up its reach and disintegrates the muck of it.  And sadly, you have to look at the sad situations of other people to recognize that.  It's compassion, right?  Most of the people I have in my life swallow compassion and let it flow through their veins without even thinking about it.  Others haven't a clue, using another person's personal sufferings as an excuse to find fault.  It would be like someone telling me that because my dad and brother died, I am emotional and should consider giving the kids up because it has affected their lives.  Lacking compassion, right?  Stupid?  For sure.  The death of an uncle and a grandfather should affect the kids, it needs to affect the kids, otherwise they might grow up to be as ridiculously stupid and obtuse as the moron who would think these thoughts.  Am I right?  Doesn't the bus need to run over people who would think like this?  It doesn't need to kill him; just maybe give him a trial that requires a break through the veil of stupidity.  I might pray for that, despite JFKs command to pray for strength instead.

I can visualize two hearts with wings above me, patting me on the back and singing along with me to the newest favorite song of mine by David Gray, titled Indeed I Will.

Write it on the walls of your precious souls,
Indeed I will, 
Indeed I will.
Praise it to the skies, everyday I rise.
Indeed I will.
Indeed I will. 
Every bone, every nerve, every fibre of my body screaming yes, indeed, I will.
Indeed I will.

Do yourself a favor and listen to John F. Kennedy, Louis Pasture, the Japanese and the David Gray YouTube of Indeed I Will.  Whatever you do, don't listen to Mr. Trouble or Mr. Stupid.  And do me a favor while you listen to the song, close your eyes and visualize two hearts with wings flying above you, singing along.  It packs a potent punch of strength.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6mJwGmhpnKs