Grace F.

Today I am strong because I beat a personal record while working out. Tomorrow I am strong because I kept going.

In the moments that I have felt the weakest, sitting in the courtroom watching my ex-doctor sentenced to prison, I now understand that I was at my strongest. At that moment I felt small, insignificant, hopeless. But after that moment, I look back on it as it was: the moment I faced my fears, started my healing, and began this journey. It was a moment of strength. 

The beauty of strength is that its definition is always changing. When I was training as a pre-professional ballerina, if you had asked me what strength meant, I would have said being able to dance a full pas de deux without losing your breath. But that day in the courtroom, I was strong because I faced my abuser. Yesterday I was strong because even though I felt like letting my PTSD get the best of me, I got out of bed. Today I am strong because I beat a personal record while working out. Tomorrow I am strong because I kept going.  

Recognizing that strength is always changing allows me to meet myself where I am. It gives me the ability to acknowledge that getting out of bed is strength. It allows me to be proud when I create something new. It allows me to celebrate creating beauty out of pain. It allows me to be proud of the life I have created, and the work I have done. 

I hope that we all can take a moment to acknowledge the strength that we have within ourselves. Whatever that means to you today

Photo courtesy of Grace French and Fortune