Strength

Shhh. Shhhh. Listen to the sound of my voice.

Now, just breathe with me. Nice and slow.

One, two, three. 

Now try taking deeper breaths. Bigger.

One…..Two…….Three.

Shhh. Just rest here in my arms.

No, I don’t have any meetings tonight. I’m right here.

Yes, sometimes life does seem so difficult. It does. But you know what? 

I’m going to tell you a little secret.

Hum? Yes, it’s the kind of secret you can share. 

But I’m going to whisper it in your ear, so you can hear it and remember it.

Everybody gets scared. Everybody gets sad. Everybody worries.

Yes, even me and daddy.

But there’s a second part to the secret I haven’t told you.

Uh huh. A two-parted secret.

Everyone is strong in their own way.

Some people get really quiet when they are strong.

Some people shout really loud when they are strong.

Some people’s strength is to make others laugh.

Some other people have tears that flow, and those tears help give them courage.

Well, yes, people can just have big muscles.  And that helps people too. 

There are so many ways to be strong. You just have to find which one is right for you.

I know he’s bigger than you even though you are a minute older, but that doesn’t mean he’s stronger. You’re just different. And strong in different ways.

 You’re only 10, so we don’t know that just yet. 

 I know it may not seem like it, but I remember lots of times when you were strong. 

Do you remember when we went on that trip to Guilin? In China? 

Uh, let me see. I think you were about six. Ok. You just turned five.

Yes, that’s right, the hotel with the cats you loved to play with.

Do you remember when we all went walking along those amazing rice paddy terraces?

The terraces like steps along a mountain. Remember how beautiful it was? 

Yes, I remember. We didn’t pack enough sweaters. 

Anyway, remember you two were following that guide and you were so happy to be running ahead of me and Daddy? You were so far away, but it was so beautiful to watch you run.

I know he was further ahead than you. I remember you telling me about that. But you both enjoyed your bit of freedom.

Well, I’m getting to that. What happened next was that one minute you were there. I could see you up ahead along the side of the mountain. And then the next minute, poof! You were gone!

Of course I was scared! Daddy and I didn’t know what happened to you!

We all started running to catch up to you.  For a minute we were looking all around for you.

And there you were….waist deep in the wet soil, covered in mud, from head to toe.

You don’t remember? You fell. You lost your balance, and fell into one of the rice paddies full of water and mud.

We all felt so bad for you. Yes, everyone. 

We were stuck up in the mountains, and we still had a good half hour hike back to our hotel. It was cold in the mountains, and we didn’t pack and wear enough warm clothes. And the clothes you had were wet and full of mud.

No, I won’t make that mistake again.

Well, I’m getting to that part. Your strength.

There was nothing we could do. No, we couldn’t call anyone. 

Yes, you were crying. Just for a bit. But then we spoke to you and explained the situation. I was so worried you were going to catch a bad cold! But after the tears stopped, I asked if you wanted me to carry you the rest of the way. 

Of course I would have. You probably weighed around 40 pounds then.

You thought about it and then told us no.

That’s right. You did walk the whole way back. 

Really. 

You said you could do it. 

You were cold. You were shivering! But I was so proud of you.

We all were. 

Yes, even him. 

I don’t remember how long it took, but it took a long time. 

You were so brave. 

And that’s what I wanted to remind you of.

Your strength. 

Well, I do think you are brave. That’s true. And people can be scared and be brave at the same time. If they weren’t scared, then I’m not sure we would call it brave. 

But actually I think your strength is something else. 

It’s called ‘endurance’.

It means that you’re able to get through really difficult times.

Yes, that was a difficult time. 

And you did it. Doesn’t matter that you cried. You did it.

Yes, this too.

You’ll use your endurance and I think you’ll get through it fine.

Just fine.