Redefining Strength

Daggers in my heart,

I should have known from the very start.

That life is not what I think it is.

And that the society has got it all wrong,

Strength was never meant to be defined like this.

We are living in a society,

Where we have made the strongest minds feel the weakest,

And the weakest ones feel the strongest,

So, here I am,

Making an attempt to redefine what strength truly means,

This is something everyone should know,

Schools should teach this to kids and preteens.

Strong are the ones who can feel,

Strong are the ones who can cry,

Because only those who can feel real pain can feel real pleasure,

You are strong if you fall hard because you care and you love,

You are strong if it breaks your heart to say goodbye.

You are strong if you find yourself fighting every day,

You are strong if you keep trying even if you can’t find a way,

You are strong if you haven’t settled with what’s keeping you down,

And you are not entirely comfortable in your life,

Because a great soul once said,

That a champion is always fighting something,

You are strong if each moment of your life is a struggle,

You are strong if your life feels like more of a boxing ring.

But if you have settled, it doesn’t imply that you are weak.

But the truth needed to be said for the sake of the strong,

That if you don’t feel like settling, you are not wrong.

You are strong if once in a while, or sometimes too frequently,

You experience a mental breakdown.

Because a warrior will want to keep learning and changing,

And constructing new and fresh mindsets, seeking and arranging,

Doing that sometimes can give you more than a frown.

Because new mindsets cannot be constructed,

Without breaking down the old ones,

And that can make you feel weak sometimes,

Even the strong ones can feel the urge to escape, avoid and run.

But just because you feel something, doesn’t mean that it is real.

You don’t have to act on it,

You don’t have to be a victim of the weak; your reaction is a choice you make.

Having strength doesn’t mean to resist your emotions,

It means to allow yourself to feel, and not let the emotion control you.

There is strength in your emotions, because no matter what you do,

You can’t have physical or mental growth if you don’t have the emotional energy,

You don’t have to torture yourself to move forward with your life,

No, Strength is not cutting your emotions out of your heart with a knife,

Rather understand the importance of replenishing your emotional energy,

Every day by doing at least one thing that makes you happy.

And when you are going through something,

Strength is in finding an expression,

 It is a really necessary and wonderful coping mechanism.

It could be anything talking, crying, writing, dancing or any other art form,

No, please don’t suppress your emotions,

Suppression is depression; you don’t have to listen to what people say,

You don’t have to follow the societal norm.

Strength is in self-love, self-worth, and self-value,

And also to feel others’ pain, to embrace your sense of empathy.

You are strong if you feel compassion for other beings,

But a great soul once said, that if your compassion doesn’t include yourself,

It is incomplete.

Strength is having the courage to say no,
Strength is in forgiveness, and in the act of letting go.

It is in understanding that you are not obligated to serve anyone,

Not a single soul in the world, not your friends, partner, or family,

No matter how much they tell you to believe so.

Strength is in putting yourself first, because if you don’t fill your own cup,

You can’t help another being if your own energy storage has gone bankrupt.

Strength is in seeking a life of abundance,

No matter how many struggles you go through,

Keep empowering yourself,

Because God wants your praise,

That’s what the Bible says.

You are strong if you stand up for yourself and defend yourself,

No matter what other people say.

If you learn to carry with you both an armor and sword,

Strength is in knowing that you are important,

Because the grave cannot praise the Lord.

Copyright © Upasana Goyal 2018

A woman’s heart

She sheds tears for you,

Breaks down your fears for you,

Even while crying she only wants to wipe your tears,

And then she smiles with grace,

Hoping that her tears go unnoticed and disappear from her face.

She nurtures every one of you,

Sometimes she nurtures pain too,

By making herself endure it longer than she should,

But only a few can see her struggle,

Only a few can realize that she can endure only because she is strong.

Hatred can’t really stay in her heart for too long,

For her every moment is brand new.

She is forgiving, generous and kind,

A mirror for those who can see,

And a light for the blind.

A woman’s heart can enter your heart with ease,

Just like the flow of a wind breeze.

You’ll feel it happen, but you’ll never be able to see,

When and how she uncages you, and sets you free.

O man, never underestimate the heart of a woman,

If you ever hurt her, just remember,

She can be as loving as Goddess Parvathi,

But as fierce as Durga and Kaali too.

Don’t ever think that she is weak,

When the power of her love turns into powerful pain,

She can make the world go round, change your fate,

 And bring the universe at her feet.

She may also make you feel like you’ve gone insane,

In a good way only if you respect her,

She can heal you if you realize her power.

But if you don’t, then you might not enjoy feeling insane,

Without doing a single thing, she can turn your rainbows into rain.

So fear a woman’s heart, because the energy of pure love it contains.

And only in pure love there is God,

So if you hurt the true purity of her heart,

You hurt your universe, and you hurt God.

Copyright © Upasana Goyal 2018