Just as there can be many sources of happiness, I also believe there can be many sources of strength. Over the past (almost) 20 years I have earned a great deal of strength...by God, the people put in my life, the things I've been through, and the things I've had to let go of.
But I'd like to take this time to reflect on how the things we let go of give us strength. At this same point in time two years ago, I was finally letting go of something I had been trying to let go of for a long time. I said, "This time, I mean it." And I did. But it took a while to convince others, and even myself. Because for 3 years I had been the girl who cried wolf. I wrote a blog about burning bridges and never looking back, and I can proudly say that I really never did look back at that toxic river. I moved on to greener pastures and I picked wildflowers in sunny meadows. It's easy to be strong when the wind is at your back.
But then something happened that I never thought about. I came across yet another obstacle I would have numerous battles letting go of. This obstacle wasn't a toxic river, but a deadly storm. This wasn't a storm that came across me by chance, though. This was a storm that I saw a mile away and still walked right into the eye of.
I'm not sure why I willingly got myself into this mess. This storm tore me up, pounded me against the ground, and threw me up in the air. It's been a little over a year and a half since it began, and though I know I risk sounding like the girl who cried wolf again, I think I'm ready to burn this bridge as well. And I'm coming out of the storm with more strength than I've ever had.
Though life will never be perfect, sunshine-y meadows like I once thought, I know that I can find flowers through snow and that I can see sunshine through clouds and that whatever happens, I will always come out tougher than before.
"I am not what I have done, I am what I have overcome."
