Being strong

Not that long ago, being strong meant to grit our teeth and just power through any tough situation we might encounter in life. Crying was for the weak, and by the way, wouldn’t get you anywhere to start with anyway. So pick up and get on!

Then there is ‘strong’ in the physical sense. Being able to do things that require great physical strength. And again, up to fairly recently, that would be mostly in a job-environment.

Nowadays both perspectives on being strong have changed.
Jobs are mostly regulated so that ~ sometimes excessive ~ strength is no longer needed. Although a display of great physical strength is still looked upon with awe and admiration, it now takes place in sports, and as such is a choice whether we want to ‘be strong’ in that particular setting.
We also have discovered that by keeping everything within ourselves ~ by gritting our teeth ~ we are not necessarily strong. In this point in time, being strong is measured by opening up, by talking about it, sharing how we feel about things. And when we cry, the tears are seen as part of our individual healing process.

The interesting thing to me is how we have reversed our opinion on ‘being strong’ almost completely. From feeling it is ‘normal’ that we have jobs that require great physical strength, to sometimes even refusing to do a job when great physical strength is involved.
From a perspective that ‘crying is for the weak’, to recognizing that crying is a part of the flow of our inner healing process. Gaining the understanding that showing our emotions is a good thing that makes us stronger.

This new perception seems to have come with the idea that any emotional outburst is okay. Because putting it out there is part of ‘my process’.

The question that comes up is whether this is true. If saying anything we want to say, doing anything we want to do ~ or perhaps not doing the things we don’t want to do because they require (physical) strength ~ and feeling it is a good thing to have emotional outbursts; be it an angry outburst, or laughter.
In other words, have we become stronger people as a result of the reversal of our perception of what ‘being strong’ means?

Or are we using it as an excuse to be loud, and inconsiderate. Just looking at what we want when we want it, without taking responsibility for our actions.
Because that is not ‘being strong’; that is ‘being a Bully’.
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