Susan Thom

Strength Comes From Doing Things You Never Thought You’d Do


Posted: Friday, September 14, 2007

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I think we all have a general idea where we want our lives to go, from an early age. We may want to be a doctor or nurse or cook or taxi cab driver. We may go after our goals, and actually achieve them, through hard work and perseverance. My goal was to be a mother, and through hard work and perseverance, I was one. That will always be my greatest achievement, or gift to this world. However, there are many who don’t recognize being a stay at home mom as a job, and deserves compensation, just like any other job. The only difference, is a mother’s job is 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and harder than any other job on Earth.

Strength came to me every day while doing my job. Things I never thought I could do, carry one child on each hip, with bags of groceries in each hand, and still manage to twist the doorknob open!

I found the strength I never knew I had when the kids were sick, and I knew they were miserable, but besides giving them medicine, I didn’t know what to do. The strength came in knowing to get them really cozy on the couch, blanket and all, and throw in a Disney movie. My daughter ran around outside on the deck with bare feet and when she lay down on the couch, I saw nothing but black slices all under her feet.

Upon a closer look, I knew there were hundreds of splinters in the bottom of a two year old’s feet. I had no idea what to do, but my strength got me to realize if I let her soak in the tub for as long as I could keep her there, they’d be easier to get out, I did this, and then, I had to pick each one out. It took over an hour. She was good, though, her strength was working, too, she knew they had to come out.

Strength is a funny thing. You may feel at your worst, and something happens, and you rise to the occasion, and take care of whatever it is you need to do. I used to be so tired all the time running after kids and taking care of a home and errands by myself, and yet, while lying on the couch watching Sleeping Beauty, almost falling off to sleep, I knew I had to get up, and make dinner for my three little ones, and I did. While sleeping during the night, the only rest I could get, and hearing one of the kids calling to me, I definitely needed the strength to wake up and get out of bed. Strength and stamina. Neither of which I knew I had before I was tested, and called upon to do what I had to do.

I never knew I’d have the strength to fight a debilitating, auto immune disease, without losing the battle, which I have a couple of times. I’m on my third try to live a somewhat normal life. Yes, strength is a funny thing, it seems to come to you when you need it most. As if angels and God and spirits all band together, and the energy you need is introduced into your body.

I believe you need to be doing your best though, when this added strength comes through. No one who is doing the wrong things receives this strength. They are on their own. There is no good without bad, no Ying without Yang, no this without that. No strength without good intentions. Angels don’t come down to help people with bad intentions. Maybe the devil, but not angels. Angels come to give us strength because they know we haven’t slept in four nights, and we’re trying our best to take care of our kids, and our home, and the bills, and the shopping.

I need strength at this point of my life, and I have it, and will continue to have it.

As a matter of fact, with each day that goes by, I get stronger. The intensity of my situation is giving me the strength I need. I will survive, and thrive, this much I know. In a few months, I will be the happiest I have ever been, and I anxiously await that day. That alone, gives me strength. There is no happiness without sadness and despair.

I believe God, who knows every single thing, is helping me pass whatever test he wants me to pass, and for whatever reason, but at least, I’m passing it, and I believe He’s proud of that, as my parents are who have passed, but I know without any doubt, they are aware. I wouldn’t want to tick them off, even in the spirit world.

So, I keep moving, and keep relying on God, my faith, my angels, and my spirits to allow the right things to happen. I know they’re on my side, so how could I go wrong?



Susan Thom is the mother of three children, two sons, 20 and 23, and a daughter 25. Her older son is in the air force in Germany right now, and her daughter is in the army in Tacoma, Washington.

Writing calms her, and gives her a place to go by herself! Clears the head and gets it out. She lives in a rural area, with a lake and mountains, and her partner, and has loved writing since she was a child.

She has been on a journey of self discovery for twenty years, and has learned many things about the human mind, and how to maintain some semblance of calm and peace within.

If someone reads one of her stories, and relates to her feelings, and gets a suggestion on how she dealt with them in a positive way, that would be the ultimate gift of her writing.

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Top-level comments on this article: (2 total)
» left by Anonymous
 4 years 131 days ago.
First, I'd watch your use of commas (shorter sentences may make your points clearer). Second, you started off well, but it got too long. You had my interest but then you lost me. You might try tightening it up. Best of luck to you.
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» left by Anonymous 4 years 131 days ago.
thank you for reading my article and commenting. i'll try to remember your advice, best regards, sue thom
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