Strength and Overcoming

What makes strength? Is it physical power or is it mental power? Is it something altogether different?  Recently a lot of negativity has crept into my life like a cancer. I don’t exactly know how I’ve gotten to a place where everything feels worse than it should, but I’m there, and so are many of the people who will read this. My definition of strength is changing as my viewpoint changes. I’ve felt like I didn’t have a voice in the past, and I’ve felt like I was weak in many ways. I’ve never been the strongest guy physically, and I’ve never been the one who everyone wants to listen to, or at least I never was in the past. I’ve had to overcome things, people, and even thoughts that held me back over the last few weeks. In those few weeks, and even days, I’ve found what strength is to me. It’s knowing that no matter what obstacle is in your way, you’ll still be firmly planted where you once were. It’s failing and then getting back up. It’s standing up to people and refusing to stay quiet any longer about who you truly are. I have a voice today. I’m not a multimillion dollar author, and truthfully, I don’t know if I would ever want to be. There’s something pure about what I do right now. I can reach an audience and show them exactly who I am on a level that comes very close to my soul without commercializing it in a way that I think will simply sell. That takes courage, and it takes strength. In the same way, it takes strength for any of us to make a change that the people around us may feel uncomfortable with or even that we may feel uncomfortable with. I guess what I’m saying is that no matter what anyone thinks, or no matter what doubt creeps into your mind, whether it’s by your own doing or a jealous or idiotic so called friend, be what you are, and always know that success will come from that. I know it to be true. It’s already happening slowly but surely for me. Every day my ideas and voice take on a new shape in the mind of someone else. For me, there is no better way to pass on who you are than to take something so intimate and share it with the world. My stories are my inner monologue, my daydreams that my first grade teacher wrote a note to my parents about, and my inner demons. If people can understand and get a reaction out of that, whether it’s negative or positive, I’ve succeeded. Find your voice, and never let fear stop you or let someone else’s voice drown you out. Stand for the things you are, the things you believe in, and the people who really love and support you. If you can do that, everything else in life is just background noise. Every critic and every doubter just fades away into the shadows of your mind, and you can reach a place you were born to go to. You can finally become the strong and unique person that you were made to be, and leave behind every person who gave up on life and love a long time ago. So what is strength? It’s a lot of things to a lot of different people, but I’ve found my definition. I’m still standing firmly. I’m comfortable in my own skin, with my own beliefs, and most of all, everything else and everyone else is just background noise. Here’s to more strength in the coming days. I’ve got a lot of work to do, so I’m going to get to it . . . I say work, but I love this. Thanks for listening, and always find a way to do what you love no matter what fear may be there because once you do, all that fear and all those people become what they should be:  background noise.