Are You Strong?

[Slippaw.]

This is PG13. Nothing bad, just a word or two. This is my opinion on "strength."

Strength... No one ever really tells you the true meaning of it. No one ever bothers to tell you how hard it is to be strong. I'm not talking about muscles wrapping around delicate bones, or punches so powerful they can break a jaw. I'm talking about real, true, honest to God strength. The strength that gets you up in the morning and through the day, even though just opening your eyes to face another disaster is almost too much to bare. I'm not talking about the street fighters who act tough. No, that is not being strong - beating somebody up, getting a nickname known only on the streets, doing drugs, drinking... None of that makes you strong. All of that is a weakness. True strength can be found in those the "strong" pick on and push down, the ones that are pushing themselves to hope and pray for something better, while also carrying the weight of others 'pon their weary and broken shoulders. The ones that are smiling on the outside, but on the inside are so dead and beaten up that they don't even know the meaning of alive anymore. The laughter that echoes in their chaotic skulls is ripping them apart from the inside out, making them wish for something more. The strong ones are the children ripping up a single slice of bread, sharing it with others, even though they themselves are starving. The strong in this world are not the ones that can afford to buy extravagant meals, throwing away half the food without a second thought, not bothering to think of the family just down the street who have nothing left in their house but a bottle of water, but they're still lending money to their family because they had to use their own bottle of water to put out a fire in their living room. Unable to buy things for themselves, and yet they still send their pennies over seas to support soldiers, even if they don't agree with war. Being strong is not beating your spouse into a pulp, making them fear for their lives and making them want to give up on life. That's being a scared little child, screaming in a haunted house on Halloween night, with no father to cling to and make the monsters go away because he's out getting high somewhere. Being strong.. it's not easy, especially with society telling you lies about what being strong really is. To be strong, you must be able to take on the tragic world of another, even though your own world is shaking, breaking apart, nothing left bust fairy dust and broken halos. You just keep on taking on the weight of someone else's world, making sure they still have something to hold on to, making promises you want nothing more than to break. To break that one promise.. it would bring so much relief, so much freedom, no more pain ... except for the others.. The others who that promise holds up, knowing they will always have you. Break that promise, and they'll all be gone. Break that promise, and it won't just be your own blood that's on your hands. Can you deal with that? Can you become so weak that you'll break a promise that's keeping everyone else alive? How the fuck could you do that? How could I even think about it?

So, you think you're strong? You think you're so tough, when all you do is call everyone names and tell everyone you're gonna fuck them up, and break their necks, and make them bleed? Really? You don't have a clue about strength. You've got no idea what it's like to be alone, yet surrounded by people who need you and, though all you want to do is cry, you've gotta make sure not a single tear drops from your eyes. That is being strong. That is how you know you can defeat anything... When the only thing left to defeat is yourself.

[Brightface]

Wow I think we have pretty much the exact same thoughts about what strength is, and I really like the way you wrote this :]
It almost made me cry though because I feel like I can relate to a lot of the stuff.

[Slippaw.]

I cried while writing this, and that's saying something, because I don't exactly like to cry. Words, however, have always had a way with making me cry. This is one of my favorite pieces that I have written -- not including poems.

[Dreamthief]

Nice. It's a good opinion piece. If you cleaned up the language, I bet a newspaper would print that in the opinions section. Really.

[Slippaw.]

Hmm.. That's something to consider. Thanks.