What It Means To Possess Inner-Strength

• Resilience.
• Perseverance.
• Tenacity.

What is it that these three words share in common? 

They give you inner-strength.

Inner-strength is the power to handle difficult situations.

Inner-strength is the ability to give everything you have to reach your goal.

Inner-strength is the dedication you have to take care of your family. Inner-strength is the strength you have to fight injustice.

Inner-strength is the work you do to further your purpose or support your values.

Inner-strength is the perceived strength you have to overcome the challenges of life.

It’s something you need now. We may have a lot of conveniences in this modern life, but we still face challenges. Adversity isn’t unique to the prairie days. It’s just changed. It, like us, has adapted.

You might be trying to balance a difficult colleague who never contributes their share while worrying about your cranky toddler, as well as the client who only communicates in an impatient, angry tone. These types of things tend to snowball – for some reason, they all come at once.

The Anatomy Of Inner-Strength

How do you outline what the anatomy of inner-strength entails? It’s difficult, but what you can see is someone who embodies it. They might not be the strongest people, they might not be the tallest, they may not wear a fierce face. Inner- strength isn’t possessed by people who look a certain way.

It comes in all shapes and sizes. What you can recognize of someone with inner- strength is their ability to deal calmly with whatever life throws their way. People with inner-strength embody a quiet kind of inner-fortitude.

It takes many forms, from compassion to kind words, from silence when faced with insults to taking action when faced with injustice. When faced with aggression, inner-strength can take the form of non-violence.

It’s interesting, isn’t it? How one thing can be so many different things in action. Who wouldn’t want to possess that type of strength?

It’s important to note that inner-strength is not something you are born with. This is something that you can develop and at any age, it’s never too late. While some people may have a greater tendency toward tenacity, it doesn’t mean you have to stick with what you have. You can cultivate it, just as you can cultivate most of life’s strengths, skills, and traits.

The Components Of Inner-Strength

It doesn’t matter what form it takes, inner-strength comes from within. It’s your inner-capacity to measure a situation, observe your thoughts and emotions, and respond both compassionately and wisely to what is going on. It’s the capacity to train your mind to harness your strength.

What does inner-strength look like, what does it take? The components and process of demonstrating your inner-strength form many steps. It all begins with mindfulness and culminates as your inner-strength showing through compassion.

• Being a mindful person.
• Possessing the ability to observe emotions (both yours and others).
• Building your capacity to respond rather than react to people and
  situations.
• Using compassion in the situation.
• Taking compassionate action.

The 5 Actions To Build Inner-Strength

While the process above does highlight the path to inner-strength, there is more to it than that. The more you practice your inner-strength the better you will become at executing it when necessary. However, the process highlighted above can be translated into key action steps as detailed below.

1. Mindfulness

If you want to increase your inner-strength, then you first need to build your capacity to be mindful. What does mindfulness have to do with anything? Well, when you learn to be more present, then you are more aware of what is going on around you. This is going to be an important strength you develop through meditation and other mindfulness exercises.

2. Observe

When you are present and recognize what is going on around you, then you are more aware of the thoughts and emotions you are experiencing. Moreover, you are more observant of the nonverbal cues of those around you as well. When you stay with your thoughts and notice your emotions, you grow in your ability to keep them in check.

3. Capacity

When you are able to observe, you naturally grow in your ability to respond to a situation rather than react. You might think the two are similar. However, I want you to think of a time you reacted harshly and regretted it.

Did you spend a lot of time replaying the situation in your mind, responding better each time? There’s a good chance you did. We’ve all been there. Yet, if you had just worked on your ability to be present and observe, you grow in your capacity to respond rather than react.

4. Compassion

Your capacity helps you introduce compassion to difficult situations. Difficult situations, traumatic events, adversity all require patience and understanding. In some cases, they may require forgiveness. Compassion facilitates all of these outcomes.

5. Action

Finally, building your capacity to take compassionate action is going to increase your inner-strength. Your compassionate attitude and approach
generates inner-strength and makes you more likely to take compassionate action. It’s all cyclical.

When you practice this process or path you are actively building your capacity to deal with life’s challenges. When you are faced with a situation
that is distressing or stressful your inner-strength makes it easier to manage.

That angry, impatient customer suddenly doesn’t bother you as much. You learn to work around your unreliable co-worker, and you find ways to cope with that cranky toddler. Instead, these situations present you with an opportunity to be kind and to deal with these situations constructively.

The Process Worth Developing

It takes practice to cultivate inner-strength and it’s an ongoing process. As you cultivate inner-strength, you will embark on a journey of self-discovery. Inner- strength encourages introspection, letting go of negativity, consuming edifying content, practicing mindfulness and meditation, and growing a sense of awareness of your body and mind while caring for it.

Think of your inner-strength as a budding garden. You care for it daily with tender, loving, care. You are aware of the conditions you have provided for growth, caring gently for your plant life, repeating the key situations, and teasing it to life.

You are the budding garden. You shouldn’t just practice building your inner- strength when times are hard, you should practice it all the time so that when trouble arrives on your doorstep you are capable of dealing with it.

Inner-strength is a key skill that you cultivate and refine. It’s something you might not have learned as a child because the adults around you didn’t possess it. You could be a lifelong optimist who breaks under the pressure of a difficult situation. Optimism without an anchor is nothing. The process above to cultivate your inner-strength – that’s the anchor. Inner-strength is your anchor.

Inner-Strength Is a New Way To Move

I want you to look at inner-strength as an extension of inner-peace, both of which contribute to a new way to move through life. To do that, though, you have to build resources that help you prepare.

It’s important to point out that preparing resources isn’t a pessimistic move. Rather, it’s realistic. We know realistically that life delivers difficulties. When those situations arise, you have to have the resources to deal with them.

Cultivating Inner-Strength

You don’t have to wait for the difficult times to build your inner-strength. Start cultivating your inner-strength now so that when you are dealt with adversity, you are in a position to deal with it handily.

Know Thyself

The greatest enemy of inner-strength is your insecurity. You might not realize it right now, but the foundation of your power is your personality. That means you have to know it well in order to use it properly. What are your strengths?

Once you have a good sense of your strengths (and weaknesses), you need to get comfortable in your skin. The happier you feel in yourself, the less damage the outside world can do, which means the more peace you find.

Silence is Golden

The world is a chaotic, loud place. The disruptions and distractions that come naturally leave you frazzled as they chip away at the core of you. Silence is golden, you need to take a break and rejuvenate your soul.

At least one day of your mouth should be dedicated to a total unplug. Put your phone away, turn it off, ignore emails, texts, and social media notifications. You can spend that day reading, relaxing, in nature or with friends. Whatever it takes to refresh you. You can’t calm inner chaos without total focus.

Rhythm & Routine

When you waste your energy, you drain your inner-strength. Stop living inefficiently and start setting a routine to control what you can.

The Ultimate Circle

The wrong people will drain you of your energy and rob your inner-strength. Don’t build a circle of people who tear you down, pad your circle with people who possess inner-strength. Keep good company that celebrates your success and have an optimistic outlook.