The Everyday Soldier

To be strong is considered a virtue, like strength is some distant goal you must strive to obtain. People are often admired for their strength, and commended on it in fact. What these onlookers don’t see is the underbelly of strength. What lurks in the depths and hides in the shadows of success, fortune or persistence. A soldier goes to war with layer upon layer of armour, for he knows the body that lies beneath is a great deal more vulnerable, exposed, weak. You see strength is actually a product of vulnerabilities challenged. It is the poster child of past adversity; a symbol of resilience in the face of defeat. Strength is the armour the everyday soldier must bear, in order to traverse the litany of blows bestowed by everyday experience. So next time you look favourably upon someone “strong” – ask first, what lies beneath?