At the end of Chapter 21 ("Find Strength") of the sweet little book on mindfulness Just One Thing, author Rick Hanson offers inspirational thoughts on the value of inner strength, stamina, perseverance, competence — and most importantly, self-realization of one's true power:

Notice how good it feels to be strong. Feel the pleasure in your body, perhaps a quiet fierceness and resolve. Enjoy the confidence that strength brings, the sense of possibility. Appreciate how your strength empowers your caring, protectiveness, and love.

Tell yourself that you are strong. That you can endure, persist, cope, and prevail. That you are strong enough to hold your experience in awareness without being overwhelmed. That the winds of life can blow, and blow hard, but you are a deeply rooted tree, and winds just make you even stronger.

And when they are done, there you still stand. Offering shade and shelter, flowers and fruit. Strong and lasting.

^z - 2013-02-02