Strength

A writer friend once said, “If I’d known I was going to live this long, I’d have taken better care of myself." At the time I laughed. But as the years have gone by, her statement has come back to me many times.

Now that I’m in the last few days of celebrating my 75^th “Birthday Season,” I’ve thought even more about maintaining self-care. The central, recurring thought: strength.

Physical strength is good and necessary so we can keep going. Equally important is having strong convictions and passions.

I recently met up with a childhood friend who’s about my age. During our conversation, I often heard, "I'm too old." and "I don't care about..." She seemed to have given up on life, even though she has a track record of being a strong woman in her younger days. This is a woman who gathered the strength to flee an oppressive relationship in a foreign country and get her five-year-old son back to the United States. She worked hard and made a comfortable life for them.

We’ve all had to muster strength to get through life’s challenges, small and large. Think back years, or even days, to when you had to be strong and resilient. Write your “strength poem.”

Word Bank

Fragile

Intense

Powerful

Tough

Weak

Photo Prompt

Washington, D.C. Photo by Annis Cassells

Quote Prompt

"It doesn't take a lot of strength to hang on. It takes a lot of strength to let go." J. C. Watts

We'd love to read your work. Please share your poem in the comments below, or provide a link to your website.

Annis Cassells is a writer, poet, life coach, and teacher.  She divides her time between Bakersfield, California and Coos Bay, Oregon, where she conducts memoir writing classes for senior adults. She is a member of Writers of Kern, a branch of the California Writers Club. See Annis’s blogs at www.thedaymaker.blogspot.com and www.poemsbyannis.blogspot.com and her website at www.connectionsandconversations.com