Hues of Grays

Just some free writing.  In its roughest draft.

Strength.  What constitutes strength.  So shallow a meaning to measure it with size and muscle.  Strength to me is resilience, courage, hope.  Courage is not the lack of fear, but the strength to confront and move ahead while facing the fear.  I humbly bow with all of my respect to the man who puts his face to the sunshine while seeing the stormy gray clouds scattered across the skyline.  

Life is hard.  Life includes pain.  He who runs from it or shuns it is weak.  Pain, discomfort, loneliness, to feel without, those are emotions equal to any other.  They are meant to be experienced.  They live, they will breathe and they will die, and other emotions will be born and will have a life span of their own.  The sweetness of life does not lie merely in the laughter, the smiles, the sunsets, the scent of flowers, the touch of a lover.  The sweetness is a recipe of dark shades of gray, brilliant hues of yellows and reds, pin pricks of pain, stomachs of butterflies.  To enjoy, to appreciate, to be humbled with gratitude we must experience the spectrum of experience and emotion.

Strength.  Is to overcome.  Strength is to repent.  Strength is to humble oneself and weep before your maker.  Strength is to give all of oneself until there is nothing left remaining to give.  Strength is to be true.  Strength is to walk blindly but accompanied by faith.

The melody of my life will be what I choose it to be.  Rich in sound created by service, love, dedication, and resilience.  My song will be a strong song.  It will be the most beautiful song, a song that will resonate through the eternities...