Live in Your Strength

“Live in your strength,” was what I read in my Yogi tea the morning of Nelson Mandela’s passing.  This made me think of how to live in my own strength. Mandela lived a life of  unwavering strength and authentic power. In fact, one of his favorite poems that he read in prison all of those years ended with “I am the master of my fate , I am captain of my soul” A soul-filled life that was able to find strength with all of those times of uncertainty. I like the idea of framing my day with the thought of living in my own strength.

What is our “best,” personal strength? Is it our connection to source, something greater than what appears on the outside? Is it our connection with who we are when we feel empowered and alive from within? I think that it is both. Our God given talents radiating out from within us and feeling comfortable in our own skin. How do we get to this place? There are the strength finder books that and exercises to get us there through thought. But, how can we get there through our senses? I think are is a sensory or tactile way of listening.  Listening develops intuition, and being still enough to hear this inspiration is unique to all of us.

For Mandela, all those years it was most likely reading that poem. Listening develops intuition, being in the moment, present and fully alive contributing to each moment. Whether it be in meditative thought, with a brush a pen or scribbling a way or thoughts on paper. Building strength is an investment. An investment in ourselves.

Because, there are plenty that will challenge and test this strength and it is up to protect it. It takes well-grounded ego to withstand the assaults from even the worst of critics most notably ourselves.  Finding strength when we feel lost weak  takes courage. Courage to find our strength and trust ourselves. “Faking it until we make it,” so to speak. There is beauty in our presence, so whether one has it all together or not, it is up to each of us to live in this personal strength. Strength that trusting in one’s own God given qualities will develop into something greater than what we see on the surface. Having loyalty to oneself, and to who we are to become in the process takes time.

For all of those years in prison, it obviously developed into a greater sense of self for Mandela. As he said “real or imagined,”  We all live in our own self-imposed prisons, of who we think we are and what we should be in this world. Instead of allowing the art in us to develop, we tend to cut it down to it’s roots. We do not allow the long process of becoming to be realized for us in all the little moments that make up our life. Just like a musical composition or an artist’s total production, we are all works in progress. It takes time for this change in us to develop into something that has deeper roots.