The Strength We Forget We Have

Life has a way of pulling the rug out from under us. One moment you’re standing steady, the next you’re flat on your back wondering what just happened. A plan falls apart, someone walks away, a door you thought would stay open slams shut.

When that happens, strength feels like something other people have. You look around and see folks moving through life like it’s effortless, while you’re carrying bricks in your chest.

But strength doesn’t always look the way we think it should. It’s not a grand speech or a dramatic comeback. Most of the time, it’s quiet. It’s the decision to stand up again when nobody’s cheering. It’s showing up to do the work when no one’s watching. It’s choosing to believe in something better even when the evidence doesn’t line up yet.

Why We Think Everyone Else Has It Together

Scroll your phone and you’ll see a hundred highlight reels. Smiling faces. Big announcements. Success stories told in neat little paragraphs. And it’s tempting to compare that to the raw, unedited mess of your own life and wonder what’s wrong with you.

But here’s what’s real: nobody gets through life without carrying weight. Everyone has days they’d rather skip. Everyone has nights that stretch too long. The difference isn’t whether we struggle. The difference is what we do inside the struggle.

Strength isn’t about dodging pain. It’s about not letting pain define you. And if you stop and think about it, you’ve already lived through things you thought would break you. That means the strength you need now isn’t out there waiting to be found. It’s already in you.

Small Choices Build Big Strength

Think back to something hard you’ve gotten through. Maybe it was money running short, or a health scare, or a season when everything seemed to go wrong at once. You didn’t survive that because of one big heroic act. You survived it because you got up each morning, made one small choice, then another, and another.

That’s what strength actually looks like. Not glamorous. Not loud. Just steady.

And here’s the thing: when the big storms hit, it’s those quiet choices that hold you together.

Why We Forget

So if strength is already in us, why do we keep forgetting it’s there?

Because fear screams louder than truth. Doubt knows exactly what to whisper when we’re at our weakest. And when life feels dark, it’s easy to lose sight of what’s already proven.

But forgetting doesn’t erase reality. The strength that carried you through yesterday didn’t vanish overnight. It’s still there — it’s just buried under the noise.

How to Remember

The fastest way to remember your strength is to look back. Ask yourself: What have I already made it through?

That’s not just nostalgia. It’s evidence. And evidence matters when doubt is trying to rewrite your story.

Line up all the things you’ve survived, endured, and rebuilt. You’ll start to see the thread running through your life — a thread called resilience.

And when you see that clearly, you stop wondering if you’re strong enough and start realizing you always were.

The Kind of Strength That Lasts

The world loves noise. It rewards the boldest voice in the room. But the kind of strength that actually carries you forward doesn’t have to shout.

It’s in the decision to try again.

It’s in the patience you show yourself when progress feels slow.

It’s in the way you keep going without applause.

That’s not weakness. That’s power. The kind that lasts.

Moving Forward

So if today you feel worn out, let this remind you: strength isn’t about what you feel right now. It’s about what you’ve already proven to yourself.

You’ve survived before. You’ll do it again. And one day, you’ll look back on this season too — and realize it became another chapter in the story of how strong you really are.

— James Barbour®