My 3 Steps To Inner Strength By Christine Evangelou

Our weaknesses are always before everyone, even before acknowledging our strengths. People will often highlight our weaknesses to us. We must, therefore, focus and channel all efforts in the direction of our strength

This is something that we can be mindful of and try to transform- we cannot control other’s perceptions of us but we can positively shape our own.

We lose ourselves in what is wrong or defined as a failing rather than how innately magnificent we are.

Often our mind magnifies all our seemingly negative traits into great big monsters- not allowing us to see the big picture. Human nature is heavily layered with faults and imperfections, but it’s how we utilize them for our greater good that truly counts. We are all perfectly imperfect.

Here are my 3 ways to help you adapt weaknesses into strengths.

1. Seek your own truth

It is always easier to believe the bad things we hear about ourselves. When we seek that validation externally, we will always be at the mercy of it. We begin to believe lies and deceptions, and all this does is cloud our own truth and judgment about the person we know we are.

The first step to turning a weakness or perceived fault into strength is to ask yourself if what you are internalizing is a true and honest reflection. We can clarify our own thinking in order to drown out the external and counteractive noise.

“As you simplify your life, the laws of the universe will be simpler; solitude will not be solitude, poverty will not be poverty, nor weakness-weakness”- Henry David Thoreau

2. Accept your faults and quirks

We are all born to stand out in our own unique way. Our faults and quirks make us human and round-out our character and personality- this is not a negative thing. If we can accept and embrace our own flaws and nuances then they no longer become a weakness, something that tears us down, or something that others use against us.

If we fervently deny our faults then we will always be debilitated by them. We harm ourselves and others through a lack of self awareness-only we can choose what we enhance from within. We overcome our ‘failings’ by being cognizant of them and knowing where they stem from, in doing so, we can determine a way forward despite our imperfections.

“A hero is someone who, in spite of weakness, doubt or not always knowing the answers, goes ahead and overcomes anyway” – Christopher Reeve

3. Focus on how your ‘weakness’ can serve you and others

There are a deeper purpose and meaning for why we are who we are. We are all intrinsically connected and so for someone, somewhere, your weakness can stand as strength to them. What someone perceives as a persistent fault is another person’s dazzling treasure.

When we understand the multi-dimensions of our nature then we can work with them rather than against them. All parts of our personality are tools for growth when we cultivate and nurture them toward the desired direction. We often tend to weigh on extremes and lack inner balance, and yet we are all comprised of energy that can be positively propelled rather than badly mismanaged. When we think outside our own perceived limits we discover new worlds that can be sewn just by tweaking our focus and intention.

“My attitude is that if you push me towards something that you think is a weakness, then I will turn that perceived weakness into a strength”- Michael Jordan

All our shortfalls can be transcended into strengths when we apply ourselves to them with some diligence, compassion, and understanding.

Rather than break ourselves down we should seek to build ourselves up.