7 'Weaknesses' That Build Strength

[amit_hegde]

7 'Weaknesses' That Build Strength


The trouble is, strength is a complicated concept. Most of us think of strength as the opposite of weakness but herein lies our first mistake. To be truly strong, one must not avoid weakness but learn to embrace it.

I have sought for years to find a good analogy to best describe this point about weakness and strength. Here is one that seems to make the most sense. All cars have built-in weaknesses. Those weaknesses are necessary for the effective functioning of the automobile. No car will last long without them. They are essential safety mechanisms that insure the long and healthy life of the machine. Do you know what these built-in weaknesses are called?

We call these built-in weaknesses fuses. A fuse is a tiny bit of metal with an even tinier strip of copper wire placed strategically in its center. That copper wire is designed to burn up when the flow of electricity gets too intense. If the wire was stronger, you would eventually lose your air conditioner and numerous other important and very expensive car parts. The fuse is designed to be weak. Its weakness protects the "stronger" parts from destruction.

People are like cars in this regard. We all have weak parts designed in, so we will not burn out our stronger parts. All strength requires a balance of weakness. Anyone who tries to live as if this were not so, is headed straight for the catastrophe of burn out.

The sad thing is that many of us seek fitness (physical, mental, emotional and spiritual) so we can live as if we did not have weaknesses. We attempt to live as if we had no fuses. This is true for many men, but it is also true for a growing percentage of women. The result is a fear of a number of ingredients that are essential for true fitness.

I have made a list of some of these items below. I invite you to check them out (each one is essential) and see which of these necessary weaknesses you can embrace and which you still fear. Then I encourage you to explore their real and powerful usefulness on your journey to complete fitness.

Necessary "weaknesses" that build strength.

1. Emotional vulnerability. Becoming an open and feeling person.

2. The ability to ask for help. Both men and women need this one.

3. The ability to say "I am sorry."

4. The ability to make and admit mistakes. Incredibly useful and productive.

5. Reliance on a Higher Power. God

6. Needs. (Everyone has them. Admit to yours and create a plan to meet them in all four areas.) Mental, Emotional, Physical and Spiritual.

7. "Not knowing." The ability to be teachable.

[jwel]

Wonderful topic I really encourage every MAN to read it

[amit_hegde]

Men as much as women are victims of the indifference that ignorance, not science, produces. Men are more slaves of women who abuse the prestige of their weakness and become tyrants in their home, than of the schooled and scientific women who understand their duties and are capable of something. With the former the husband has to play the role of man and woman, because she ignores everything: she is not capable of consoling nor helping her husband, she is not capable of giving tenderness, because, preoccupied with herself, she becomes demanding, despotic, and vain, and she does not know how to make a happy home. For her there are no responsibilities to carry out, only whims to satisfy. This is typical, we see it happening every day.

The ignorant woman, the one who voluntarily closes her heart to the sublime principles that provoke sweet emotions in it and elevate the mind, revealing to men the deep secrets of the All-Powerful; the woman incapable of helping her husband in great enterprises for fear of losing the prestige of her weakness and ignorance; the woman who only aspires to get married

and reproduce, and understands maternity as the only mission of women on earth--she can be the wife of a savage, because in him she can satisfy all her aspirations and hopes, following that law of nature that operates even on beasts and inanimate beings.

[amit_hegde]

It is a talent of the weak to persuade themselves that they suffer for something when they suffer from something; that they are showing the way when they are running away; that they see the light when they feel the heat; that they are chosen when they are shunned. * Eric Hoffer-.

It may not be particularly obvious in business settings, but in everyday life the thin line between strength and weakness lurks behind every action. And people use these two traits - strength and weakness - all the time to reach their goals. Interestingly, strength can sometimes be considered weakness, weakness can sometimes be considered strength; strength can flip into weakness, and weakness can flip into strength.

Before attempting to evaluate these two phenomena, it might be a good idea to state that, in our seemingly progressing world, weakness is still hardly ever accepted within men, especially not in business. It is therefore predominantly the female guild that allows itself to use weakness as a goal oriented strategy.

Let's try to analyze how strength and weakness can be each other's competitors:

In business: Imagine two women applying for the same job. They are both attractive and smart, but one radiates strength and the other fragility. Whether the recruiter is a man or a women, he or she will most likely, each for his or her own reasons, choose for the fragile type. The female recruiter may do so because she estimates her chances of influencing the applicants, and for all she knows the weak eyeing one may be an easier manipulatable target in the work setting than the one that radiates strength and determination. Besides, strong people can always overpower you, and who wants to be overpowered?

The male recruiter may either base his decisions on the same arguments as mentioned above, or just decide with his age-old, deeply rooted conviction that a woman should be weak and frail, and not as determined as the strong applicant seems. He starts seeing images of feminist-parades and remembers the Amazonian age, and consequently decides that it's always better to play it safe and prevent any possible menace. Thus, no matter what their driving motive is, most people will prefer to appoint weakness, for weakness does not represent a significant threat, while strength does.
In private life: Imagine two women desiring the same man. The one who uses strength as her tool toward accomplishments, will try to make productive use of her time while persevering and hanging in there; endeavoring to convince the man that her strength will be an advantage for their life together. The woman who uses weakness as her tool, on the other hand, will emphasize her lack of strength and abilities, because one way or another she anticipates that it will trigger a sensitive chord within the man.

Depending on the type of man these women are dealing with, strength or weakness will prevail: the sober, practical male with a clear focus on the future, will most likely choose for strength, since he prefers to calculate is options and makes sure he regularly does the math of his life. The gentle knight in shining armor, though, will probably fall for weakness, because there is a need in him to feel indispensable; a need that may not be fulfilled when choosing for strength, especially if he is not too young anymore. He may consider it easier to hurt the strong person and cherish the weak one, because, in his mind, the strong one will get over it, while the weak one won't…

Of course, both women can hold on as long as they wish, especially if they both persevere. Yet, ultimately, it will be the man's character that will determine who will stay around and who will have to move on. It may all be rooted in our * still reigning - convictions that women are (read: should be) weak and need to be helped. However, as Calvin Coolidge stated, "Don't expect to build up the weak by pulling down the strong." No matter how many hurdles they encounter, the strong will always bounce back, like a cork in a pool of water: you push it down here, it pops up somewhere else.
But in any case, the aforementioned explains why those who try to break through the established perceptions and beliefs have such a hard time getting anywhere and are forced into entrepreneurship, when it comes to business settings, and to loneliness and/or second choices when it comes to private life. Now, one could wonder if weakness, as used in the examples above, is not the real strength, and strength, as used here, is not the real weakness. And one could also easily conclude that, in the above-posted illustrations, weakness has actually flipped into strength, while strength has ultimately turned into weakness.

This whole analysis boils down to something Bette Davis stated so wonderfully, "The weak are the most treacherous of us all. They come to the strong and drain them. They are bottomless. They are insatiable. They are always parched and always bitter. They are everyone's concern and like vampires they suck our life's blood."

[circassian]

Some say the blacker the berry, the sweeter the juice
I say the darker the flesh then the deeper the roots

I give a holler to my sisters on welfare
Tupac cares, and don't nobody else care

And uhh, I know they like to beat ya down a lot
When you come around the block brothas clown a lot

But please don't cry, dry your eyes, never let up
Forgive but don't forget, girl keep your head up

And when he tells you you ain't nuttin don't believe him
And if he can't learn to love you you should leave him

Cause sista you don't need him
And I ain't tryin to gas ya up, I just call em how I see em

You know it makes me unhappy (what's that)
When brothas make babies, and leave a young mother to be a pappy

And since we all came from a woman
Got our name from a woman and our game from a woman

I wonder why we take from our women
Why we rape our women, do we hate our women?

I think it's time to kill for our women
Time to heal our women, be real to our women

And if we don't we'll have a race of babies
That will hate the ladies, that make the babies

And since a man can't make one
He has no right to tell a woman when and where to create one

So will the real men get up
I know you're fed up ladies, but keep your head up

[Chorus]

Keep ya head up, oooo child things are gonna get easier
ooooo child things are gonna get brighter [2x]

[Verse Two:]

Aiyyo, I remember Marvin Gaye, used to sing ta me
He had me feelin like black was tha thing to be

And suddenly tha ghetto didn't seem so tough
And though we had it rough, we always had enough

I huffed and puffed about my curfew and broke the rules
Ran with the local crew, and had a smoke or two

And I realize momma really paid the price
She nearly gave her life, to raise me right

And all I had ta give her was my pipe dream
Of how I'd rock the mic, and make it to tha bright screen

I'm tryin to make a dollar out of fifteen cents
It's hard to be legit and still pay tha rent

And in the end it seems I'm headin for tha pen
I try and find my friends, but they're blowin in the wind

Last night my buddy lost his whole family
It's gonna take the man in me to conquer this insanity

It seems tha rain'll never let up
I try to keep my head up, and still keep from gettin wet up

You know it's funny when it rains it pours
They got money for wars, but can't feed the poor

Say there ain't no hope for the youth and the truth is
it ain't no hope for tha future

And then they wonder why we crazy
I blame my mother, for turning my brother into a crack baby

We ain't meant to survive, cause it's a setup
And even though you're fed up

Huh, ya got to keep your head up

[Chorus]

[Verse Three:]

And uhh
To all the ladies havin babies on they own
I know it's kinda rough and you're feelin all alone

Daddy's long gone and he left you by ya lonesome
Thank the Lord for my kids, even if nobody else want em

Cause I think we can make it, in fact, I'm sure
And if you fall, stand tall and comeback for more

Cause ain't nuttin worse than when your son
wants to kno why his daddy don't love him no mo'

You can't complain you was dealt this
hell of a hand without a man, feelin helpless

Because there's too many things for you to deal with
Dying inside, but outside you're looking fearless

While tears, is rollin down your cheeks
Ya steady hopin things don't all fall down this week

Cause if it did, you couldn't take it, and don't blame me
I was given this world I didn't make it

And now my son's getten older and older and cold
From havin the world on his shoulders

While the rich kids is drivin Benz
I'm still tryin to hold on to my survivin friends

And it's crazy, it seems it'll never let up,
but please...

you got to keep your head up










Rain , you are always in my heart , you never died.

[jwel]

OH that's so nice

[circassian]

how is that unfortunate circumcision victim gonna-be-but-not-know-it-yet person .

I promise I won't chop too much off the infidel .