Sustained strength is not aggression, nor muscular feats. It is not violence or coercion, nor is it righteous anger.

Sustained strength is fueled by compassion, by solidarity, by community.
Sustained strength is endurance. It is focus, aspiration and discipline.
Sustained strength is the willingness to do the mundane with lightness and joy.
It is the belief in goodness and the power of peace, and the pleasure of generosity towards others.

Sustained strength lives in simplicity, not aspiration towards prestige, power or possessions.
Sustained strength is feeling the abundance of having less.
Sustained strength is the freedom found in not having to be special while feeling love for oneself.
Sustained strength blossoms through connection with others who feel special to you.

Sustained strength grows through the convergence of high ideals, disciplined structure and acts of compassion.

We need sustained strength now. The world has changed under our feet. The old no longer exists. Nor does the present.

We need sustained strength in our leaders. Our followers. Our parents. Our children. Our life partners. Our friends.

We need to give our enemies sustained strength because that is how they will become our friends.

Sustained strength begins with ourselves.

That is the way forward.

The author is an Associate Professor of Clinical Psychiatry, Medicine and Science Education at the Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell.