Strength

There was a time when I saw good people around me, being successful - always putting their best foot forward, always right, always being applauded. In contrast, I was silly, stubborn, awkward - or seemed to let opportunities slip through my fingers. How I wished to be like them! I hated my mistakes, criticized myself severely for it - and probably punished myself with more guilt and self-pity than what was needed.

After many years of wondering about this, I figured out that the difference between the successful ones and me was not just their determination to succeed in spite of their mistakes, but their strength in holding on to their ideals even if things went wrong. Success was always within hand's reach - but I quit too soon believing that if I had failed once, I would fail again. What I didn't know was that people succeed at something because they continuously learn over and over again. If they made mistakes, they must have sat down and thought over what went wrong, felt a bit of the blues, but then got up to go about working around their problems. Just like the river - no matter how many rocks lies in it's path, the gentle stream goes above or under or around them to reach it's goal. If the waters can't do any of the above, it changes to a gushing torrent that wears rocks and mountains down by years of patience and constant effort. But in the end, it wins - the river always wins - and becomes a part of the sea to fulfill it's destiny. The strength of the river is not just in it's volume or force - but also it's patience and it's 'never say die' attitude to win it's way over obstacles - be they great or small.

Strength is sometimes not just in giving your best shot to achieving your goals - but in winning your dreams even when it looks like you could have lost easily.