.Stronger.

That which does not kill you makes you stronger. That's what they say. I'm stronger than I look and stronger than people give me credit for. It's not necessarily because of what happened to me but more because of how I chose to react. There is a lot of truth in the reaction....truth about who you are....that you can't even begin to comprehend until you're half way through it and there's no turning back. Somewhere in between the losing and the rock bottom and the upward climb and the never ending hole, I chose to stand back up and make the best of what happened.

It is true that our past shapes us....there is no way it couldn't....but it doesn't have to define us. Bad things, worse things, happen to people every single day and those whose reaction time provides healing and strength in order to stand back up are living proof that strength comes in all forms and that anyone can do it. anyone. 

I didn't want to be strong. At all. I wanted to let everything fall in around me and, for a while, I did. Then I heard somewhere that insanity is doing the same thing over and over while expecting different results. I had to stop and reorganize and it lead me here. To this beautiful place of love and kindness and acceptance. I prayed about it--I lived, breathed, and created hopeful tomorrows, not knowing what I would get and I was always strong enough to let the bad days go and to embrace the good ones when they come. 

Being strong isn't about how much weight I can lift--although, I'm pretty strong there too--but, for me, it's about how much love I can give myself to pull myself up from the bottom and try try again. I'm not sure that what didn't kill me made me stronger, but maybe how I reacted gave me strength. Maybe the love I still have gave me the strength to be stronger. Maybe love really does heal wounds and change people and changes our own self. If I've learned anything, it's that love really is what it's all about.