You never know how strong you are until being strong is the only choice you have. ~ unknown
Be Strong…..those words today have a very different meaning for me than they used to have. To be strong used to mean for me keeping a stiff upper lip, stand tall, holding in my feelings and keeping a brave face. Other people have always have seen me as being strong.
Today I see being strong as an opening into my inner core, allowing my greatness to shine. I express myself openly and honestly and as Brené Brown says that strength comes from being vulnerable. This is the paradox to be really strong you have to be really vulnerable.
This morning I wrote these following words in my journal, after painting the heart below and then meditating:
“Today I will I will be strong and embrace my greatness.”
That helped put me in a higher state of vibration and raised my spirits.
My Strong Heart ~ Suzie Cheel
7 quotes to embrace being strong:
If you believe in it and you are willing to do whatever it takes to achieve it, then you will become it, enjoy it and own it. Have faith, be strong and believe in you! ~ Ricardo Housham
Promise me you’ll always remember: You’re braver than you believe, and stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think. – A. A. Milne
Be strong, believe in who you are. Be strong, believe in what you feel.- Melissa Etheridge
The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong. – Mahatma Gandhi
You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, “I lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along”. – Eleanor Roosevelt
The world breaks everyone, and afterward, some are strong at the broken places. – Ernest Hemingway
I am strong, creative and free, accepting and loving me and you ~ Suzie Cheel
I wrote these words many years ago at an Insight 11 The Opening Heart Seminar and I still use them today. They came from a deep heart awakening exercise and I remember at the time being encouraged to repeat these words daily in the mirror 30 times 3 x a day. What I know is that when I am faced with a challenge, where I need to be strong these words always there to remind me to keep going and move towards feeling great.
How Do Your Stay Strong?
Share in the comments 🙂
Be Love
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Love this!! I especially love your beautiful artwork! To me BEing strong means accepting completely whatever is in front of you. Thanks for the quotes, will be coming back to those 🙂
Hi Shannon,
Thank you that makes my heart sing. I like BEing strong means accepting completely whatever is in front of you. sometimes that is not always easy ♡
Suzie, your words really spoke to me. I grew up thinking that to be strong meant never showing emotions. Now others today tell me I’m a strong person and I have to remind myself that they mean it as a compliment. I really love your art work, as well as the quotes you shared. Thank you for the reminder that being strong means accepting our greatness.
Hi Kelly,
How wonderful I love it when what comes from my heart touches another. Seems many of us suffered from keeping our emotions under control, rather than seeing it as being part of our greatness.
Thanks for your love of my art- that is special ♡
I am having a moment. A wee stressful freak out. I know that these moments do come and go and I was coming here to read a little in hopes your words would help me light my way. Strength is a good thing for me to remember today. Thank you Suzie for unknowingly getting it for me today.
Kate I trust you are now feeling at peace and I see you last post on meditation will have helped, I have done sevral walking mediations this week inspired by that post. So I an dellghted that my words touched you. Love when I am in sync ♡
“If you believe in it and you are willing to do whatever it takes to achieve it, then you will become it, enjoy it and own it. Have faith, be strong and believe in you! ” Exactly what I needed to hear. Struggling a lot at the moment…
Hi Amanda
I am sorry to hear you are struggling, I have been there so know what it feels like. I am delighted my post touched your heart. let me know if I can help you ♡
Hello Suzie
The expression has come so cliched that many don’t get it until they have to walk the talk.
That’s where the magic happens … and it is not an overnight thing. As opposing as it seems, strength shows up in one’s willingness to be vulnerable. If we could somehow find the courage to make that leap, wonderful and surprising things happen. People show up to help; we are led to them.
The work of allowing and accepting our vulnerability and building trust on many levels, is never done, but we do stand taller each time we go beyond the cliche.
Love the quotes!
Hi Kathy,
You are spot on in it not being an overnight thing and as you say it is never done- an ongoing process as we grow into our magnificence. Maybe trusting is sometimes the most challenging are?
Thank you for visiting and commenting 🙂
I like your definition of strong much better that the “stiff upper lip” one. Be strong by being who you are. Everyone has gifts to give and we all need to be strong and put them out there so we can help others with them. Yes, be vulnerable. That is scarey, but it will bring more joy to us and those we serve! Thanks for this post.
Hi Carol,
Thank you for your inspiring comment. Yes we do all have gifts and in being strong we share them with the world. When we are vulnerable we step into our light:)
Thank you Suzie. Your post brings to mind that we’re all in this together. Learning about our own strength and letting it be authentic instead of what we were taught to believe “being strong” means. I like the Hemingway quote you’ve added, which also is aligned with “we’re all in this together.” Thanks for the heart painting. I love it.
Hi Christina,
I love your reading from what i wrote and yes we are all in this together. Thank You
This is a very timely post for me. I recently went through a stage of feeling overwhelmed, as most of us do at some time. I have now come out the other side and I am much stronger, thanks to the support of some wonderful friends.
I love the quotes too!
HI Helen,
Welcome and love it when what i share is timely. Yes when we move through the overwhelm we can come out feeling stronger- I sometimes think this can be a healing breakthrough.
Your posts always speak to me Suzie. And this one resonated particularly. Maybe being British and having to keep that stiff upper lip rubbish begins to mold how we operate in life. But it’s such a harsh place to operate from and closes us off from all the wonderful light bringers and helpers in the world who can’t wait to respond to our call.
Another beauty.
Thanks Elle,
Yes I got the same from my parents about the stiff upper lip, Australia maybe was like Britain i feel.
it makes my hearts sing when i read you comments, i love that my posts speak to you.
Namaste xx
I like how you compare our definition of strong…when we were growing up…to the deeper meaning now. I never thought of being strong the same as being vulnerable, but it makes sense. When you put up a front and have a stiff upper lip, you are the opposite of strong, you are masking your true feelings and self from the world and yourself. Thank you for a great post!
Hi Deanna
Thanks for your thoughtful comment and I am so pleased that this helped you form a new view about being strong.
Namaste xx
“Today I will be strong and embrace my greatness.” Suzie: I just got a visual message from the Universe ~ a deck of Suzie Cheel cards that feature your beautiful art, with a different affirmation on the back side of each card. Woot!
Martine,
you must have tapped into my soul. I have the cards on the drawing board this week- My picture is a heart with a word and affirmation like Doreen Virtue’s archangel and Daily guidance from the angels style.. What you have suggested was my first picture and this week when i was doing my weekly heart whisper i got a new picture. http://archive.aweber.com/heartwhispers/8PrQT/h/_Your_Weekly_Heart_Whisper_.htm will be a rectangular shape 3½ x 5″
Namaste xx
Suzie,
It’s interesting how life is a process of unfolding and so we see things so differently as we allow ourselves to change and grow. I see you becoming more and more authentically you and appreciate all the goodness and beauty you share with us.
Sandra,
I love what you have shared, your comment uplifts me and re-assures me that that this journey is one that is continuing to allow me to unfold and become more authentically me. i need to read that as i still get the wobbles and fall back into stuck mode before stand up. be strong and take the next step.
I feel blessed to be sharing this journey with you.
Namaste xx
I agree that transforming a dark past is not strength. I was afraid, every single day for decades as I slowly walked out of that jungle. I did not give up though. For me, staying strong means persevering when others would throw up their hands. It means taking one small step, veering off when necessary to stop, rest, and cry. Being vulnerable when the going gets toughest and the pain of the journey takes over. Feeling into the sadness and fear and letting it pass. Encouraging myself to go back on the pathway once again. Learning to trust myself has been the most difficult thing I ever encountered. To me, that is the ultimate in strength. It is a work in progress.
Welcome Diane,
Thank you for your heartfelt comment, yes sometimes i struggle and then realise that my life is an ongoing work that is ever changing and full of colour and movement. Strength does comes from taking those small steps.
namaste xx
That was beautiful! I am always taken aback when people say I’m strong, because I’ve dealt with some MAJOR challenges and a very dark and difficult winter. I’ve been fearful, and I would not have come out of it in the way I did, if it weren’t for the help and love I received from so many good friends. But I think the strength people see, is in my vulnerability. I have become much more honest in my writing, and I am no longer ashamed of the struggles I have faced. I am hoping that, by being honest, and by being vulnerable, my readers will see that we all face the same struggles, and that they are not alone.
Welcome Bethany,
Yes i think you are right your strength comes through your being vulnerable. I think when we can openly share our struggles we help not only ourselves but allows our community to grow too. It gives a sense of belonging and yes i think it is great that we can move onto the space where we can be vulnerable.
namaste xx
Dear Suzie
So to stay strong I like to be really honest. Talking to my loved ones about everything in my life helps me keep faith that all is ok. Also being honest about what I believe in and how I feel makes me feel good. Xxxx
Dear Jenny,
Thanks for sharing how you stay strong, sounds like you have being strong mastered. Great and I sense that in you
Namaste xx
Isn’t it funny how so many of us thought being strong involved not letting on when things were too much for us. Maybe we confuse asking for help with giving up?
Yes Susan it seems to be something that many os us have experienced.
Yes you might have something there about asking for help equating to giving up, also maybe a sense of both loss and being weak?
Namaste xx
Beautiful Suzie, and I also used to think of being strong as just having a stiff upper lip and basically dealing with things by ignoring and holding in emotion and not letting others see your feelings …. actually, that is not dealing with things!!
But that’s not so long ago, so now I’m working on myself to discover what’s in there waiting to be released.
Love your message, and the Heart, and your quotes <3
Jacs
Thank you Jacs,
Yes the work to be vulnerable and show our true selves is an ongoing process unless it comes naturally to you and i have a couple of friends who have that gift.
letting go and releasing allow us to shine and be strong
Be love.
Suzie xx
Suzie, being strong evolves… I know you agree. Each phase of our life requires a new kind of strength and those of us who have found it before will find it again. The best part is we can help our friends who are younger and following in our footsteps, just like you are doing. Thanks so much.
Welcome Michelle,
Yes I do agree and it also changes as you say with each stage of life. yes I was reminded when writing this that I used to express my strength in a very direct way. thank you for your encouraging comment
Namaste xx
At a recent girl’s weekend, one of my gal pals noted: it takes a very strong woman to ask for help. Why is it that many women have such difficulty admitting that there are times when we can’t do it all?
Hi Kim,
And what about the other times when we think we can and then we fall over or the universe delivers a message that outs us un a position where we have to ask for help? I am reading Brene Brown and i think some of the answers are in being able to be vulnerable and tell our story 🙂 You might bring on an blog post addressing that question
Namaste xx