Many, many times when I was young, my mom told me to “stand up straight”. My posture was important to her because, “good posture is important for proper young ladies.” My poor mom, even with all her urging I never achieved ‘proper young lady posture’, mostly because I was one of the tallest girls in my class and I didn’t like that designation, so I always slumped. Like many other things from childhood, I say, “if only I knew then what I know now…” I would have heeded my mother’s advice and stood up straight.
Standing up straight is healthy. With our posture in proper alignment, our core is its strongest and in its best working order. A strong spine is crucial to our overall wellbeing. Standing up straight is also a significant part of our appearance. Slumping distorts our proportions and overshadows our best features. But even more important than either of those, is what standing up straight and tall means to us in our minds.
Standing straight and tall conveys confidence. When we stand tall with our head held high, not only do we look confident; we feel confident. We are able to look at challenges right in the eye and deal with them because our eyes are not downcast. Confidence means that we are not intimidated, we are solution-minded. Life is full of challenges; and meeting those challenges with confidence helps us to rise above them. And if we do fall, our confidence allows us to get back up and try again. When we remain confident, we will continue to stand tall.
Picture this… You’re back on the playground and there is the big slide, which frightens you. Then ‘that one’ kid comes along and says, “I dare you to go down the slide”. You have to save face in front of all the other kids who are watching, so you stand up tall, climb the ladder and go down the slide. (And usually find out that the slide is a lot of fun and you’re glad you did.) As adults, we can picture life’s challenges like a kid’s dare. Of course our motivation will be different, but our confidence won’t concede to being bullied by a challenge.
Confidence then leads to determination. Sometimes we are faced with multiple challenges at once, or what seems like a constant barrage of them. Our determination gets us through those times. Life tends to know how to ‘push our buttons’ and discourage us. But we can stand tall with a strong backbone and determine that no matter what life throws at us, we will get through it. We can stand up to any amount of mud life flings at us. And if we get knocked down, we pick ourselves up, wash off the mud and stand tall and strong again. Standing tall with determination helps us develop a habit pattern of success in our lives.
Think of a child learning to walk. He is not daunted by how many times he falls because of his determination to stand up and walk (straight and tall). Even if he gets hurt, he still gets up and tries again. And when he is walking capably, the number of times he fell before his success becomes completely insignificant. We must have that same kind of determination.
Determination then leads to bravery. There are times when life throws us a debilitating blow. These are more than challenges; these are devastating attacks. These are overwhelming odds from which we are not sure if or how we can recover. These are the times that we must be brave. We rally all the confidence that we’ve garnered and the habit pattern of success that our determination has brought us to stand tall with our spine steeled in the face of adversity.
Bravery is simply not giving in to fear. Whenever fear rears its ugly head, we must stand tall against it. We must not give in to its intimidation. We must not yield to its demands. I know that this is not an easy task. But with all the bravery we can gather, we must always try. We must hold our head up, throw our shoulders back and utilize all the strength in our core to stand tall against the attack. We must never give up. Standing bravely offers us every chance of victory, while quitting only offers a chance of failure.
Confidence, determination, and bravery then lead to pride. When we stand up to the challenges of life and conquer our fears, we can be proud of our victory. Standing tall demonstrates that pride. We no longer need to slump in despair or cower at adversity. We are proud of our accomplishments and unashamed of the successes that we’ve attained. We are not arrogant or haughty. We do not brag. We simply stand tall and let that speak for us.
Now, here is the conclusion of the whole matter…
We can be confident in our own abilities or in God’s limitless ability. We can be determined by our own will-power or by claiming God’s promises. We can be brave with our own strength or with God’s mighty arm that He bares for us. We can be proud of our own results or of the deliverance God provided for us.
I bet that you agree – the choice is obvious. Our confidence, determination and bravery grow exponentially when we rely on God’s abilities rather than our own. He is the Almighty God with unlimited resources. His love for us never fails. By His power, we can be more than conquerors.
Let us be confident in everything that our heavenly Father has given us and does for us each and every day of our lives. Let us be determined to have His sufficiency in the face of every challenge. And let us stand proudly as His sons and daughters with no fear because He has said that He will never leave us nor forsake us.
Note to my readers: My prayer for all of us is that we can stand tall together in this day and time despite the negatives and distresses that surround us.