Tamaletjie (Sticky Toffee)

Some days I feel I should write an intro to my blog like: Bless me Father for I have sinned. It’s been 6 weeks since my last blog … and then I remember, I’m not Catholic, it’s my blog and no one cares!

I've been thinking about inner strength lately.

Some people just seem to have it. Some think they do but when the rubber hits the road they crumble or they lash out at the world or at another person or by their actions, they demonstrate that the strength is just not there, no matter how much they may say they have it.

It seems such a glib thing to say that someone has or doesn't have inner strength. There are courses peddled to help you grow it. There are memes, books, lengthy howtofixyourinnerstrengthpsychobabble lectures, but really, how does one fix it?

How do you NOT crumble when the world seems to be going crazy around you?

And no, I'm not asking for a friend.

I wonder whether some people are born with it, like the Maybelline ad says (Maybe she was born with it or maybe it’s just Maybelline) or whether it's something we can coach in kids, young people and even those who've gone their whole lives with a sense of trembling inside.

They're tired. Someone just broke their inner strength somehow and they don't know how to fix it

Don't you just love it when people say: "You're too sensitive?"

Ok, so where's that tap, that magic button one turns off?

Maybe it's a bit like that "tamaletjie" a tough toffee our mothers made long before Wilson’s Toffees thought of it. A bit of a sticky subject and very brittle when you chew on it.

We look down on people who don't have it.

They're "fragile" or "hard work" or "high maintenance" or "needy" and somehow they didn't do "Inner Strength 101" when we did it and we're somehow superior because we're tougher on the inside

Maybe the sportsmen and women who are coached to deal with their opponents have that edge, maybe it's not even a matter of inner strength. Maybe it's a killer instinct.

Maybe it's just survival

And who decides who gets more of it and who gets less?

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