Merriam-Webster defines strength as:  the quality or state of being strong :  capacity for exertion or endurance. There are several other definitions, if you care to fact check me, but this is the first one and the one that applies to this piece. Recently, I saw a story on the world news that just tore me up and I was tempted to write about it in last week Irregular’s Intel, but opted for something else because I think I tend to be a bit too heavy, at times. I decided that I’d save it, but then it happened again and gave me even more reason to write this. 

Really, what is strength? Several years ago, a dear friend found a Shambhala Meditation group and, knowing that I’d explored meditation from time to time myself, she asked me to come with. I did and was introduced to something that I’d never experienced before. I’d been introduced to meditation as a result of my martial arts training, thinking that what I’d been doing was part of a warrior tradition. But the Shambhala group showed me otherwise. For them, to act from a place of strength meant to open your vulnerable side and live with it, be true to who you are. The weak would hide their vulnerabilities because that’s where the weaknesses are. But to live in such a way that you know who you are and embrace that truth, you are not afraid to live with your strengths and weaknesses equally exposed – that had a lasting effect and caused me to redefine what strength really was, for me.

So, that story that I saw… it was about how people in Sudan rely on air drops of food (mainly soy beans and sorghum, I believe). It talked about warlords keeping the Red Cross out of the country, so air drops are the only option. The story also focused on a woman who was new to the village. She had fled her home country because of civil war and had already lost two children to the violence. She managed to make it to this village well inside the border of Sudan, even managing to give birth while in the desert! So being new to this village, no one knows her and she gets no food. The supplies are already limited, so why would they share with an outsider when it means taking food from a family member’s mouth? Understanding that, the desperate situation that everyone is in makes generosity a scarce trait. But it made me think about something. Mind you, I am not a pacifist – when there is a time to stand, you stand. Having said that, the amount of money that we spend on one fighter jet would make the lives of those people so much better. Or, if not another country, how about here at home? We have people who have no idea where their next meal is coming from and I believe we have enough financial strength that we can make that choice and not weaken ourselves. And speaking of war machines…

How valuable is military strength when you lack the strength of character to protect the weak, to make room within your borders? It is so easy to gather up hardware and surround yourself with all the artillery that money can buy. But the hard thing, the showing of true strength is to put yourself out there, to prove that you are not ruled by fear. True strength is kind, yet vigilant. What mixed signal do you send when you refuse to lend a dollar to your neighbor in need, but will call the police because you think you see something suspicious around their house. Yeah, I’m making a thinly veiled reference, but you know what I mean. The second act is not from a place of strength and concern for you fellow man, it is out of fear. And remember, fear is the mindkiller!

Strength is so much more than how big your arsenal or bank account is… or how big your arms are. Strength speaks to one’s moral character. It is about being true to who you are, to living out loud. If what we see on the 24 hour new cycle is any indication of what passes for strength now, do the opposite of that and you’ll be fine!