A Three Strand Cord is Not Easily Broken.

Oftentimes I spend a lot of time by myself. Sometimes I feel alone and other times I am completely fine by myself. The times when I feel alone I forget that I do have people in my life that love me and although they aren’t near me in proximity, they are close to me in spirit, love, and through the cell phone towers.

 

I think in America, we have this theory and or belief that we collectively subscribe to that tells us that if you depend on too many people, that is a sign of weakness and that strength comes from weathering the storm alone. Or we say that people don’t understand us or our problems are unique to us and no one would ever or could ever understand so it's best to deal with our troubles by ourselves. This is a false narrative that I have told myself. There are billions of people in the world and although my life circumstances may differ from others, I can without question state that we all pretty much want the same thing: to give and receive love, to find our purpose in life, and to operate in a space of peace. If for no other reason, we collectively have this in common.

 

It's easy to forget this when I feel like I have all of the world's problems. I recently talked to a friend of mine that I’ve known for 20 years. We are basically family by now, but we don’t talk as frequently as we used to or that either of us would like to. During this discussion he was telling me about family issues with his brother and on a separate front problems with his wife, covid chaos and all of the challenges that come along with having a newborn baby. I was telling him about issues I was having with my girlfriend, my car, my place in life as well as the stress that started to affect me physically.  It really felt like a weight was being lifted by saying out loud how I was feeling internally for some time. I realized half way through our talk that I felt better and he told me he felt the same. This talk didn’t necessarily solve either of our problems, but it did give us both a boost of confidence needed to tackle these problems head on.

 

At times we feel like we have to handle things on our own in order to be strong, but assessing our weaknesses is the true sign of strength. We can only get stronger by improving and or dealing with things that are weighing us down.

 

I forgot what I had already known and was given a gentle reminder during my talk with my friend. WE are not alone. I wear a silver cuff bracelet daily that says, “a three strand cord is not easily broken”. Its from a verse in the Bible my mom would often quote to my brother and I. It just reminded us that we always had each other to lean on. She often said that as long as the three of us had each other and or others in our lives that were close to us, we would always be strong enough to never break.

 

This is my message to you. Strength comes in different forms, but no one has gotten through this life alone. You may be by yourself sometimes, but we interact with friends, family, coworkers, strangers and a higher power every day. Use these allies on days when you feel weak. Three strands is nice, but the more strands you have on your proverbial cord, the stronger you will be. The only way to build your cord is to intertwine and depend on the other strands in your life. In other words, cultivate the relationships you have in your life.

 

I was reminded and now I'm reminding you. Don't run from adversity, but when it does come, be strong enough to ask for help to overcome it. Real strength has allies.

 

By Ernest Moore

3 comments

  • Eloquently said Sir.

    Ayanle
  • Thanks for reading it cousin Treny!!

    Ernest Moore
  • Thank you for the reminder cuz

    Delma Suber

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