Turning Weakness Into Strength

Snowflakes and sticks might seem an odd choice for beginning an article about turning weakness into strength, but before I am finished here you will come to understand why I chose them.

On the surface, and in our perception, what is looked upon as weak is not always as it appears. Often we perceive ourselves weak in some area - sometimes we are right, sometimes we are wrong. Most times it doesn't really matter in the final outcome.

Our qualities of weakness or strength do not determine the success or failure of our mission, they only direct us towards which strategy we should use.

Most folks who perceive themselves weak will shy away from ever attempting anything beyond what they feel capable of. But they would often succeed quite nicely if they would only use the proper strategy - a strategy to overcome their weakness.

And that is a lesson that can be understood by observing the snowflake and the stick - two of natures most fragile things. Certainly on their own neither one can withstand the tiny force of even a child.

But behold their awesome power when they stick together!

Blizzards can bring the largest city to a standstill and cost millions of dollars to clean up. An avalanche can bury and kill a skier without ever slowing down. When those fragile snowflakes stick together and combine with the forces of wind or gravity, men fear their awesome power. The light and delicate snowflake, perhaps the most fragile thing in nature, overcomes it's weakness by forming an alliance that sticks together.

An what of the stick? Is there any child who hasn't picked up a stick from the ground and listened to it snap as their tiny hands overpowered it? But is there any adult who could break them when 100 are bundled together? I think not.

Perhaps if nature's most fragile creation, the snowflake,  can find strength by sticking together maybe we would be wise to follow that strategy as well.

Instead of trying to go it alone in areas where we are weak, we should form an alliance. We should surround ourselves and link together with folks who can add to our strength or prop up our weakness. Just as no two snowflakes are alike, no two people are alike either. But when we head off, arm and arm with another, we have a much greater strength than either of us had alone.

So often we try to go it alone when that is a poor strategy. When we fail the obvious choice is to blame our weakness. But it is more often our strategy which failed us. There is almost no weakness that cannot be overcome, no strength that cannot be obtained, when we will set our ego aside and ask enough people to join us in working toward our task.

Behold the lesson of the snowflake and stick. Even though each one is weak, their strength is enormous when they bond together.

Who can you bond with to gain the strength you need?
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This article inspired by these two quotes from my children's book  "Building Blocks of Prosperity"

"Sticks in a bundle are unbreakable." Kenyan Proverb

"A snowflake is one of God's most fragile creations, but look what they can do when they stick together."
Author Unknown