You are not a jellyfish. You are not a wobbly thing. You are to stand up in the world, not flop around. You are not to be battered by the winds of the world. You are not to be knocked over by every wave. You are not a victim of life nor are you to always be searching for victory, as if life were a contest. The prize has already been won. The prize is life. The prize does not come to you already packaged, however. It's like a kit you have to put together. It's not that pieces are missing so much as it is that you have to feel around for them.

You are not a jellyfish, nor are you the mast of a ship that never wavers. Life is viable. You are not entrenched in it. Perhaps you are a little bit of a buoy. You bob along as far as you can go, and yet you are established. You have no boundaries, yet, at the same time, you can't go so far afield as you might think.

You are not the willow nor are you the oak.

You are a vibrant human being. You may be tossed and turned, and yet you land on your feet. No matter what damage you may feel the world does to you, you land on your feet.

I am not recommending that you have hard times, yet I must tell you that what you call adversity does make you strong. Don't be on the lookout for adversity, but when things do not go your way, do not be dismayed. You are being lifted higher.

Consider this: Every person who enters your life contributes to your strength. You may see this one or that as an adversary, and yet, everyone in your life, no matter how brief their rummaging in your life, is a building block of you. Consider people who enter your life as employees. They may wear you down, but they also lift you up. Perhaps they are a little bulge in the road that you have to climb over. Perhaps consider them as vitamins, some hard to swallow.

Thank everyone who comes into your life, for they are a boost. No matter how difficult for you, they are taking you by the elbow and helping you up another rung of the ladder of life. It is not so much that they are to teach you. You are not a jellyfish, yet they may be in your life to shake you up. You are not a can of coconut milk to be shaken, yet it is a little like you are a coconut tree. Shake you and coconuts fall, and you notice that you bear fruit. You notice that there is something for you in everything. Bearing fruit is not the same as losing it.

What I am saying is that life does not weaken you, beloveds. Life strengthens you. However edgy you may feel, however green around the edges, you are growing stronger. Stronger means more resilient, and it also means firmer. You gain clearer pictures. With each step, you find out how strong you are.

There is not any storm that you cannot weather.

You are not made strong in preparation for battle. Don't think that. You are made strong so that you begin to know your own strength. Will you kindly stop dwelling on what you see as flaws? What you see as your greatest flaw may very well be your eminent strength.

So now I ask you once again to look with favor upon yourself. I made you. I made you good. I wound sinews around you to keep you together. I loosen, I tighten. You are all right.