Redefining Strength: Softness Isn’t Weakness
May 30, 2025
Real strength isn’t always loud, sharp, or unbreakable — sometimes, it looks like softness that chooses to stay open, even after being hurt.
For a long time, I thought being strong meant being unaffected.
Unshakable. Stoic. Untouchable.
I thought strength was the ability to keep going no matter what — to push through pain, to never need help, to keep my feelings neatly hidden where they couldn’t be used against me.
But that version of strength left me tired. Disconnected. Alone.
Because the truth is, that wasn’t strength at all. It was armor. And underneath it… I was scared.
Scared to feel. Scared to ask. Scared to be seen.
Real strength, I’ve learned, isn’t about being invincible.
It’s about being honest.
It’s about being soft — and still showing up.
Softness is allowing yourself to cry when you need to.
It’s saying “I’m not okay” without apology.
It’s holding space for others without losing yourself.
It’s staying open in a world that taught you to shut down.
There is nothing weak about that.
In fact, softness might be one of the most radical forms of strength there is — because it goes against everything we were taught about what makes us worthy or safe.
You don’t have to prove your strength by how much you can endure in silence.
Let your strength be soft. Let it be kind. Let it breathe.
Softness isn’t weakness. It’s courage — just in a gentler form.