"be strong"

[snugglekitty]

So, I've been thinking about what it means to be strong.

In my family, growing up, what was validated was mostly acting strong. Pretending to know everything, be capable of everything, and need nothing. That's a really terrible model. But I'm realizing that I haven't replaced it with a new model of my own.

For you, what does it mean to be strong? And how did you find out?

Comments

[water-childe.livejournal.com]

Interesting question because it's something I've been already thinking about.
I haven't been feeling very strong emotionally lately. It's come to light that I'm still working with some very bad for me outdated metrics in terms of communication and letting people 'in'. I'm still embarressed to need emotional solace because up until about 6 years or so ago, I was very likely to be rejected or told that I was (insert negative comment here) for needing that. I've become very good at diagnosing and fixing my own problems, but I still often 'hide' things from myself. The big problem is in 'hiding' stuff it compounds and then wallops my upside the head. When this happends I'm overwelmed because I know I need to ask for help but find myself paralysed with fear that I might show someone how 'messy' it is inside my emotional subconscious. I have lots of people I can call 'friend' but a non-existant emotional support group. I fear being 'needy' and fear making other feel 'put upon' by needing some talk therapy.

Although I suppose the fact that I can admit all this is strong.
I didn't used to be able to do that.

[moominmolly.livejournal.com]

I suppose the fact that I can admit all this is strong.

I certainly think it is. It's very hard for me to admit that sort of stuff to myself, and even harder to say it out loud.