A couple of my friends have been going through a lot of **it lately.
But what made me want to write this was just the difference in how men and women perceive strength.
Women never feel strong - but quite often they're phenomenally strong. They just don't recognise it in themselves.
Years ago, when I tried meditating for the first time, the lady taking the class would often relate different situations to nature.
For example, if you were bogged down in a depressing situation, she would get you to picture yourself on top of a high canyon somewhere, overlooking the view. It was to remind you of the bigger picture - that there was life (and hope!) outside of your situation.
If you needed determination, she would talk about water. How it comes up against mighty boulders, but carries on flowing, persisting until finally it creates a new path amongst the rocks.
So my poem 'The Gentle Warrior' is dedicated to the beautiful strength of women - and of course to nature, one of the best healers of all time.
Above is just the first verse, but I have written it out in full for you below. Enjoy :-)
The Gentle Warrior
by Hadley C
Lift up your head
And hold your body strong
For your gaze does not belong on the floor.
For in the same way that water ebbs and flows,
Gently
Slowly
Taking its time until it wears away its own
determined path amongst the rocks
So too, you can ebb and flow
Gently
Amongst those who seemingly want only to
put a boulder in your path.
Like water, keep going until you
Wear away the insurmountable
Until even the heavy boulder must surrender
and make way for your gentle stream.
Look at the tree
How fragile it seems in the fiercest of storms
How far its branches bend
And how quick to snap they are.
And yet
Below the surface
Is a pathway of roots, mapping their way as far across the soil as they can reach
Digging deep into the earth and
Rooting the tree deep into the soil
Allowing it to survive the battle of many a tumultuous storm.
Look at how simply the warmth of the sun
Can light up everything within its rays
Sharing its gentle – but fiery – lifeforce with all it surveys.
Do not fear the boulder or the storm
For you
My Gentle Warrior
Are like nature,
Sharing your gentle lifeforce with all you survey, and
Giving compassion and light to those caught amongst their storms.
It is not always the sharpest weapons or the loudest words that win
Sometimes,
Just sometimes
It can simply be
The gentleness of spirit
That wins the day.
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