Strength

- Inspired by Christopher's post -

Throughout the mankind history, the importance of strength has never been neglected nor ignored as a vital part of humanity. Human beings, or scientifically homo sapiens, rely greatly on strength to make development and progress, no matter great or tiny. This can be easily proved by the existence of the ancient seven wonders of the world. Needless to say, without strength, mankind would never exist until now.

In my humble opinion, mental strength plays the most important part in mankind development. Take online games and MMORPG as examples. Mages, magicians, wizards are always associated with the intelligence attribute. Utilising terrains, weather, spells and of course, their mental strength, intelligence-based characters have earned themselves an honour. Tilting the camera to the reality, mental strength and intelligence are what people need to monopoly markets, to compete for rankings and also to think of strategies. Obviously, bad and cunning people make use of their high IQ to deceive mankind. Some people excel in their left brains, while some are good in their right brains, and excellent people excel in both. In ancient times, different levels of mental strength, intelligence and even education determined the status level of human beings. Excellent anticipation brought Warren Buffett to upstage Bill Gates in terms of wealth, while astounding political knowledge led Barack Obama to become the current President of the United States. In other words, mental strength is what brings human beings to succeed in their lives.

For those who are familiar with Defense of the Ancients, or DotA in short, it's hard for them to miss out Crixalis, or Sand King and Lucifer, or Doom Bringer - they are strength-based characters and have a significant influence on the game. This is because characters who excel in physical strength surpasses other characters during early-game. However, this does not mean that they lose their lustre during mid- and late-game. Physical strength, by any means, is the easiest way to show one's power and influence on a matter. For instance, bullies always deliver punches and blows to their victims to exert their power. Countries with better military strength often invade weaker countries, no matter in ancient times or modern centuries. A good example will be USA. Lacklustre in terms of military strength in poor countries such as Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iraq had became victims of USA. Focusing on daily matters, when male animals and men want to fight for a female animal and women respectively, they usually end up in fights. This is an unavoidable situation since fighting for food, territories and mates is a natural behaviour for animals and human beings. The Olympic Games are no exception too. Games and sports always depend on physical strength and manipulative skills. From the examples aforementioned, it's obvious that physical strength is not to be neglected too.

When it comes to the term EQ, or abbreviation for Emotional Quotient, one can link it to emotional strength. Emotional strength does exist in ancient times, but there is no physical quantity to measure it. Since the term EQ bloomed in 1920s, emotional strength became more and more essential and important in our lives. It's actually a psychological measure of the ability, capacity, skill or a self-perceived ability, to identify, assess, and manage the emotions of one's self, of others, and of groups. How one manages emotional issues reflects his or her level or emotional strength. People with low EQs generally possess weaker abilities to manage emotions and feelings. In the world today, competition among employers, employees, students and even toddlers is getting stronger and stronger. Employers have to compete for business. Employees have to compete to surpass each other's performance. Students have to compete for results, rankings, positions. Toddlers have to compete to see who learns walking, singing, running and talking first. It's an absolute disadvantage for a person to have weak emotional strength because he or she will be less likely to manage problems well.

Strength, brings development. Strength, brings progress. However, the gradually increasing strength in mankind caused mankind to forget about something. Virtue. Moral Education in secondary schools, unfortunately, is no more than a piece of paper which contains 36 moral values, full with definitions. Students just have to memorise every single word from the definitions. Also, voluntary work aren't done voluntarily. Students are forced to act like drama kings and queens in front of the camera. How despicable! God gave us everything, and reminded mankind to put virtue as the utmost importance. Yet, what happens in the world today? Crimes are getting more and more. Greed in human beings are getting stronger and stronger. Two can get married without the presence of love - they marry just for money and status. Two can become friends and backstab each other. So what's the point of becoming husbands and wives or friends?

According to Christianity, plants possess only bodies, and animals possess bodies and souls, while human beings possess bodies, souls and spirits. We surpass every other species is not just because we have mental, physical and emotional strength, it's because we have spirits but plants and animals do not. God made us special, and therefore, we have to appreciate what we have. Apprécier!