Our bodies use 200 muscles to take a single step.
We tend to say we “need strength” when we are facing something difficult in life. And we do. If you or someone you love is given a scary diagnosis, or you lose your job, or if you’re walking through heartbreak, you probably aren’t thinking about the 200 muscles working hard so you can take one step. You have other things to focus on. But, just because you aren’t focused on the small things that require strength (like walking) – that doesn’t make you weak.
You see – we have strength within us we hadn’t even thought about as strength before. At about a year old, we “just started walking.” Think about how hard the 200 muscles were working in our bodies for that first step… And then suddenly, we took our second, third and 4000th steps. Those probably weren’t as hard or scary. Soon, our bodies were so used to those movements, that our muscles didn’t even think of the movements as work. But, just because they didn’t recognize them as work anymore, doesn’t mean they weren’t requiring strength.
So, on days when you don’t feel strong, think about your strength. Think about those 200 muscles we talked about earlier, or about the four atriums and multiple blood vessels it takes for a single heartbeat. Find things in your life that require your effort to get them done. And then start recognizing those things as signs of your strength. Because, in case you haven’t caught on yet, they are. Much like walking, you’re probably doing a lot of strong things without even realizing it.