Beauty

[rac71]

No. I have PTSD from early childhood and adolescent assaults. They didn't make me stronger, they left me shattered and frozen while my psyche did what was necessary to keep me functioning, although in many ways I was nonfunctional and seriously messed up. My mother died five weeks ago and my world ended. That didn't make me stronger either. Bunch of baloney.

[BORN AGAIN]

In everyday life, things are hard enough. I often think of things happening in other countries. Killings, beheading, torture, etc. If you witnessed these things with your own eyes or it happened to your family, children etc. would that make you stronger? It would not make me stronger. It would eat away at me. However, I still believe my Heavenly Father is carrying me in His loving arms and I can only put my troubles in His hands.He will never forsake me. I'm sorry if I was graphic, I was just putting your question in perspective.

[Madisson]

I think it depends on the individual. Sure, we all learn from our mistakes and tough ordeals that we go through, but people only have so much strength. Often, people get so beaten down that they develop PTSD.

[qualitygal]

On 11/1/2014 sunnybrook said: ITA with the original poster. I've had bad and good. But, the last stretch of bad was the end of my being able to pull myself up anymore. And, no I'm not physically I'll, just broken.

I think you said it best.

[qualitygal]

On 11/2/2014 Coffee Gal said:

I sure hope so, at my age of 58, I am going thru something right now, that shook my soul to its core, I hope it will make me stronger. This is something that I never thought in my wildest dreams would be happening.. But it is.. and as a mother and my oldest son being almost 35, the mothering and instinct of protecting him and supporting him is stronger and the hopefully the truth will prevail.. It has to..

I wish you good luck and him also. Best to you both.

[AngelPuppy1]

I think the person who came up with that statement didn't know what they were talking about. I think they were trying to come up with something that would give some comfort to a person who was going through difficult times. I think if you have a strong character its a combination of being born with it and also having a good example set for you by a parent or person close to you. I know from experience that no-one in my family (self included) has had an easy life at all, and it has not made us stronger. In fact, it is wearing us out --- physically and mentally. Constant stress, hardships, sickness, etc. constantly bombarding you does nothing but wear you out.

[Stray]

It depends on outcomes. If day in day out, you face adversity, poverty, abuse and you just do not see a light at the end of a tunnel, it just wears you down. If you lack control of a situation, you feel helpless. If you faced some terrible trauma, illness or situation, and you found a resolution, it may make you stronger because you developed a successful strategy or coping mechanism in order to deal with difficulties. I was in NYC during 9/11 and lost three friends and though I felt helpless at the time, the only way I could resolve those feelings was to volunteer at the respite at the site. Everyday they listed the names of recovered remains and I would look at that list and hope it was one of my friends....so I learned that hope is so important when you face life's challenging moments. I also saw so many people from around the world working together at that site and the dedication of chaplains, construction workers, police, fireman, Red Cross personnel and so many volunteers and it gave me a very good feeling under terrible circumstances because people cared. I will never forget but I have learned that hope is essential when dealing with adversity and to look beyond yourself, if you can, and help others deal with a difficult or similar situation. Strong faith helps many deal with life's bad moments...so I guess it gets down to Faith, Hope and Charity .....

[Sooner]

On 10/26/2014 suzyQ3 said:

All depends upon the hard time or the struggle. Nobody should be handed everything on a silver platter, but this cliche is a generalization that can tend to be dismissive of hardships that most of us will hopefully never have to endure.

I disagree with that too. What is you were handed everything on a silver platter? Does that, in itself, make you who you are? No. No more than people who aren't handed anything are nicer. To me, both as as biased against a person's financial status.

I have known people who were poor and were real rats to everyone around them. I have known multi-millionaires who were the nicest and best people you'd ever meet. Saints come in all colors, genders, places where they live and financial states--and so do real horrible people.

[sidsmom]

Is this saying true? OF COURSE it's true! There are many different levels of strength & many different levels of diversity. Most of the time mental weakness is the biggest hurtle.

Do you remember this video on Facebook a couple yrs ago? It went viral on Facebook & inspired over 11 million views. He was physically handicapped...but what didn't kill him, made him stronger. One year later, he lost over 100lbs of weight & can walk without aid.

Beautiful example.

Arthur Boorman transformation: Never, ever give up!

[Anglophilly]

NO! Eventually there's a price to be paid.

Death of 2 husbands, daughter's cancer as a child, loss of a son. Got through, then ZAP! major heart attack despite no issues with weight, cholesterol etc. Definitely not "stronger" but much more wary...what's next?