What does strong mean? | BRIGITTE.de

Honestly? I've never been a big fan of being strong! Always hold your head up, hold on, grit your teeth, don't show any embarrassment, don't let your emotions throw you off the track, even make your weaknesses stronger – that just sounds super stressful to me. And (at least in my case) blatantly adjust and act. But now I have strapped that being strong has to mean something else – and that is exactly what is not.

What does strong mean?

Strong coffee makes you particularly awake, after a strong caipi someone should ideally take special care of me and a strong accent is particularly sexy (or super cute if it's Dutch!). In all of these things, the word "strong" means something like intensive, in relation to the property that characterizes the particular thing the most (Caffeine for coffee, cachaça for caipi, deviation from the way a native speaker speaks for an accent).

Why should "strong" suddenly mean something completely different in relation to humans? Because: If, for example, I don't let my feelings throw me out of my way or clench my teeth, I do exactly the opposite of what I would "live intensely" for. After all, when I ignore my emotions, I eradicate an important part of my personality.

Starch must not destroy people

Also: I like strong coffee, strength is something positive for me! On the other hand, I don't like people who don't show nakedness or never fail, for example. I find them unappealing! And they are usually not happy and successful.

For example, I once worked in a job and team in which the two superiors never made mistakes – it was always the others! And this despite the fact that both were animal control freaks and had an eye for absolutely everything. Totally crazy! One of the two worked about 80 hours a week, and by the end of 40 he had two strokes. He refrained from doing long rehabilitation both times and was back in the office after four weeks. As a result, he hobbled and it was difficult to understand him because he was mumbling – after all, he can now legally park in the disabled parking lot … The other one didn't make a lot of changes, but since his divorce he has bullyed the team, the stroke manager and me wherever he could. Sometimes you could smell his alcohol flag, you could always see his striking red speckled face.

These two men wanted to be strong, but they had a completely wrong idea of ​​what that was (something like me before!). And in doing so, they not only destroyed their own lives, but also others – for me it was the worst two years of my career so far.

A strong person is …

But how, if not flawless and invulnerable, does a person have to be so that one can, with a clear conscience, be called strong and admired? It is now very clear to me: he has to particularly human be!

Humanity is what caffeine is in coffee. Humanity distinguishes us as humans and distinguishes us from jellyfish, caipis and stars. And I think humanity is great! After all, it includes such great and lovable things as charity, imperfection, blemish, team spirit, longing, needs, conscious enjoyment, fallibility, sensitivity, striving for happiness and creativity. My greatest role models and inspirations (my parents, my big sister, a few bloggers) are all totally human.

In addition: three of the most typical human characteristics are probably …

  • our Social sense: Our whole society and reality only works by working together. Without the others, each of us would be screwed.
  • our individuality: We are all incredibly different and unique!
  • and our Ability to learn: We learn and develop throughout our lives based on our experiences (and the mistakes we make!).

This clarifies everything that I need to know about being strong:

  1. Together we are always the strongest!
  2. Being strong has almost 7.7 billion faces!
  3. I get a little bit stronger every day (because I am open to growing from my experiences and mistakes)!

So for me it fits. And already being strong no longer sounds like stress and pretending, but something beautiful and worth striving for. After all, all I have to do is to be – with all my heart!