Opinion What is true strength and how can I be truly strong?

[The Explorer]

I'm a coward, but i want to change. What is your opinion on what makes a person truly strong?

 

[Ren126]

Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the assessment that something else is more important than fear.

-Franklin D. Roosevelt

 

[The Explorer]

Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the assessment that something else is more important than fear.

-Franklin D. Roosevelt

I may actually have a chance then.

 

[BlackoutThieving]

Discipline can solve the majority of problems in life.

 

[CrowOuttaHell]

For me, it's just being able to survive. Surviving means you're somehow able to adapt to the situation at hand, no matter how bleak or screwed it is, and somehow coming out of it alive-- the keyword being alive. Bruised, battered, but living. Strength lies in being able to get back up even if you've fallen down, and continuing on despite everything.

 

[The Explorer]

For me, it's just being able to survive. Surviving means you're somehow able to adapt to the situation at hand, no matter how bleak or screwed it is, and somehow coming out of it alive-- the keyword being alive. Bruised, battered, but living. Strength lies in being able to get back up even if you've fallen down, and continuing on despite everything.

Makes sense, brutal, but makes sense. Thanks!

 

[BlackoutThieving]

For me, it's just being able to survive. Surviving means you're somehow able to adapt to the situation at hand, no matter how bleak or screwed it is, and somehow coming out of it alive-- the keyword being alive. Bruised, battered, but living. Strength lies in being able to get back up even if you've fallen down, and continuing on despite everything.

Basically everyone is capable of this, no? Unless you commit suicide you can't really lose. It seems like some generic yoga mom philosophy, but I would appreciate if you could explain your belief more thoroughly so that I can appreciate it.

 

[Astralworks]

Basically everyone is capable of this, no? Unless you commit suicide you can't really lose. It seems like some generic yoga mom philosophy, but I would appreciate if you could explain your belief more thoroughly so that I can appreciate it.

I could give it a shot.

 

[The Explorer]

Basically everyone is capable of this, no? Unless you commit suicide you can't really lose. It seems like some generic yoga mom philosophy, but I would appreciate if you could explain your belief more thoroughly so that I can appreciate it.

I think what CrowOuttaHell meant was to survive life or death situations, and come out on top. Which means I would have to battle those that I now are stronger than me, and force them to go all out. That's why I said it was Brutal. Of course no sane person would instigate a battle placing their life on the line, but what he is saying is you come back stronger if those situations happen and you survive.

Astralworks If you wanted to try it after knowing that, it is pretty much not healthy.

BlackoutThieving People's true natures come out when they are forced to survive life or death battles too, Cowards like me would just freeze up, and that moment I do, the fight would be over, and i would be dead.

 

[The Explorer]

For me, it's just being able to survive. Surviving means you're somehow able to adapt to the situation at hand, no matter how bleak or screwed it is, and somehow coming out of it alive-- the keyword being alive. Bruised, battered, but living. Strength lies in being able to get back up even if you've fallen down, and continuing on despite everything.

Also, what the what kind of life are you living, CrowOuttaHell ? To be able to offer such advice, means you been through some stuff.

 

[BlackoutThieving]

I think what CrowOuttaHell meant was to survive life or death situations, and come out on top. Which means I would have to battle those that I now are stronger than me, and force them to go all out. That's why I said it was Brutal. Of course no sane person would instigate a battle placing their life on the line, but what he is saying is you come back stronger if those situations happen and you survive.

Astralworks If you wanted to try it after knowing that, it is pretty much not healthy.

BlackoutThieving People's true natures come out when the are forced to survive life or death battles to, Cowards like me would just freeze up, and that moment I do, the fight would be over, and i would be dead.

Why would the part of your life that defines your strength be the less than 1% part? Aka, the "death battle" (I don't know if you've been watching anime lately but life certainly has nothing to do with that). Real strength is being able to make yourself do what you should be doing. Working, homework, fitness, studyiing, eating healthily, writing that book that you never really got started on, all the things that you typically don't want to do or procrastinate from. Not that you have to complete those fully; No one does, everybody has their vices, but being ABLE to do it if any of those get in the way of your happiness or future is strength. Cowardice in terms of fighting doesn't matter at all in life, at least not in the western world. It won't determine your future in the vast majority of cases, and there are basically no cases for most people. I don't get your obsession with cowardice. Seems like nothing but edgy teenage thoughts to me. It seems like you're fleeing from actual flaws you have, by convincing yourself that if you can do this one thing, that won't ever happen, you're truly strong despite not being able to overcome laziness or other issues.

 

[The Explorer]

Why would the part of your life that defines your strength be the less than 1% part? Aka, the "death battle" (I don't know if you've been watching anime lately but life certainly has nothing to do with that). Real strength is being able to make yourself do what you should be doing. Working, homework, fitness, studyiing, eating healthily, writing that book that you never really got started on, all the things that you typically don't want to do or procrastinate from. Not that you have to complete those fully; No one does, everybody has their vices, but being ABLE to do it if any of those get in the way of your happiness or future is strength. Cowardice in terms of fighting doesn't matter at all in life, at least not in the western world. It won't determine your future in the vast majority of cases, and there are basically no cases for most people. I don't get your obsession with cowardice. Seems like nothing but edgy teenage thoughts to me. It seems like you're fleeing from actual flaws you have, by convincing yourself that if you can do this one thing, that won't ever happen, you're truly strong despite not being able to overcome laziness or other issues.

Personally, I believe that True Strength and what it is varies from person to person, as it is opinion based. Sorry if I made you angry, it is just that something happened, and it was just a joke between friends, but I should have at least offered help. They were testing me, and i froze up. I couldn't move at all. Like I said, it wasn't real, but the fact that I couldn't move made me realize just how much of a coward I am. I imagine myself always doing the right thing, but when the time came to prove it, I could hardly even think past the fear.

I'm trying to overcome that fear.

It has nothing to do with fighting, I was just trying to explain his point of view, from what I understood.

Sorry.

 

[The Explorer]

Personally, I believe that True Strength and what it is varies from person to person, as it is opinion based. Sorry if I made you angry, it is just that something happened, and it was just a joke between friends, but I should have at least offered help. They were testing me, and i froze up. I couldn't move at all. Like I said, it wasn't real, but the fact that I couldn't move made me realize just how much of a coward I am. I imagine myself always doing the right thing, but when the time came to prove it, I could hardly even think past the fear.

I'm trying to overcome that fear.

It has nothing to do with fighting, I was just trying to explain his point of view, from what I understood.

Sorry.

The reason I want to train myself, is to get and stay fit.

 

[Astralworks]

The Explorer BlackoutThieving Take a gander at my little thing below this message. You'll see the door I walked through, beware if I left it open. XP

 

[The Explorer]

The Explorer BlackoutThieving Take a gander at my little thing below this message. You'll see the door I walked through, beware if I left it open. XP

Procrastination can either help you or hurt you. I am a firm believer in finding the best in people's hearts.

 

[The Explorer]

The Explorer BlackoutThieving Take a gander at my little thing below this message. You'll see the door I walked through, beware if I left it open. XP

Man, just realized I could have made a Kirby Reference Joke, I guess even I know that there are somethings people should never joke about.

 

[CrowOuttaHell]

Basically everyone is capable of this, no? Unless you commit suicide you can't really lose. It seems like some generic yoga mom philosophy, but I would appreciate if you could explain your belief more thoroughly so that I can appreciate it.

No problem. My personal belief is that there's strength in survival because being able to survive means adaptability, as I think I mentioned in the original post. Strength lies in being able to tackle what life throws at you and still have time for yourself, to heal and to get better. I get your point with strength being the ability to combat inaction, and I personally think that is true-- but there's also strength in avoiding the worst case scenario by somehow finding a way around it. People who manage to avoid suicide are strong in their own way for being able to even think of something that's stopping them from committing the act since it's most usually done in the most desperate of situations. So, in a sense, strength is coming out alive from whatever life throws at you, and proper self-care in all aspects of yourself (physical, emotional, mental...) At least, that's how I feel.

I think what @CrowOuttaHell meant was to survive life or death situations, and come out on top. Which means I would have to battle those that I now are stronger than me, and force them to go all out. That's why I said it was Brutal. Of course no sane person would instigate a battle placing their life on the line, but what he is saying is you come back stronger if those situations happen and you survive.

Also, what the what kind of life are you living, CrowOuttaHell ? To be able to offer such advice, means you been through some stuff.

Haha, well, I meant it less as a battling thing as it was a belief in life, but I like your interpretation. Picking battles isn't the way to go for me, personally. Life itself will throw various challenges and battles your way, so there's no need to go looking for trouble.
Of course, when I say don't go looking for trouble, I don't mean not following instincts and opportunities! If you see an opportunity to better yourself and you feel like you can handle it, don't be afraid to give it a shot. Never know what might happen.

I don't have too special of a life, really. I'm just a guy getting by in uni. I've been through a pretty rough patch of depression in my first years at the place, and it killed my mood and motivation to do pretty much anything. I couldn't write. I couldn't focus. I would mindlessly scroll my phone, looking for something to care about, find nothing, and feel even worse. It caused my grades to drop dangerously low, and when my adviser at the time mentioned that at this point, everyone else was adapting to the school environment while I was still suffering. There is no other time where I felt weaker than those days, back in that year, where I'd wake up wishing I hadn't.

Here's another word of advice for being strong: you can't always be strong alone. You need other people. Because the only people that dragged me out of that rough time in my life was a counselor who sympathized with me on my emotional health, and it cleared my head enough to talk to my mother about it since she was more likely to understand my problem than my father. I only got to that dark point in time because I didn't have anyone else to lean on other than myself, and that certainly wasn't healthy.

I've had a pretty rough week so far (and gods, I'm only through half of it) but I can say that at least, I can do what I can to keep it from getting any rougher because I've already been through worse, and I don't want to fall back into that time.

So, in that case, I just roll up my sleeves, figure "I just have to get through this week, and we'll be smooth-sailing after." and move forward. It won't be easy-- nothing ever is-- but it will pass, and it's up to you whether you give up and take that storm to the face, or do what you can to lessen its effects. That's where I feel you'll find the true meaning of strength.

 

[Daisie]

Hm. I'm not so sure this conversation is about strength. You said when faced with an intense situation, you freeze?

Well, that's actually a quite normal response. It doesn't really dictate whether you're a coward or not, it's a primal, built-in reaction, wired into your brain. I'd recommend researching the three reactions to danger: fight, flight, or freeze.

In my opinion, these things don't say anything about who you are as a person. They don't dictate how strong you are. Strength is NOT whether you fight or freeze in battle, despite what anime, TV shows, or video games may tell you.... Which are all forms of media that are dramatized IMMENSELY for the sake of entertainment. No, life is seldom as black and white as they make things seem. Sometimes the true heroes are the physically weakest people... And unfortunately sometimes - oftentimes - the true villains are the strongest, and with the most power.

It's all about what motivates your actions, in my mind. The ones I consider strong, respectable people... They don't do good things because they're granted with abilities. They don't do good things because society expects or tells them to. They don't even do good things just cause God tells them to. They do good things because at heart, they are good people, who struggle with their sins every day.

I've gone through absolute hell in my life, haha, and I'm sure there will be more to pay. I can only ever try my best to be the best version of myself... And on the days I'm not, then I've just gotta pick myself back up again. Still working on that bit.

Strong people are humble people.

 

[The Explorer]

Hm. I'm not so sure this conversation is about strength. You said when faced with an intense situation, you freeze?

Well, that's actually a quite normal response. It doesn't really dictate whether you're a coward or not, it's a primal, built-in reaction, wired into your brain. I'd recommend researching the three reactions to danger: fight, flight, or freeze.

In my opinion, these things don't say anything about who you are as a person. They don't dictate how strong you are. Strength is NOT whether you fight or freeze in battle, despite what anime, TV shows, or video games may tell you.... Which are all forms of media that are dramatized IMMENSELY for the sake of entertainment. No, life is seldom as black and white as they make things seem. Sometimes the true heroes are the physically weakest people... And unfortunately sometimes - oftentimes - the true villains are the strongest, and with the most power.

It's all about what motivates your actions, in my mind. The ones I consider strong, respectable people... They don't do good things because they're granted with abilities. They don't do good things because society expects or tells them to. They don't even do good things just cause God tells them to. They do good things because at heart, they are good people, who struggle with their sins every day.

I've gone through absolute hell in my life, haha, and I'm sure there will be more to pay. I can only ever try my best to be the best version of myself... And on the days I'm not, then I've just gotta pick myself back up again. Still working on that bit.

Strong people are humble people.

I agree. The whole reason for this thread is that I want to overcome fear. To the point where it is first nature to do what is right, without freezing up.