Fortitude:

January has come and gone and I can kind of feel my shoulders give.  I can exhale.  I made it through the month, just barely.  I didn't have my computer, but if I had, I would have blogged daily.  There was so much to talk about.  I kind of want to go back and figure it all out and write it down, but there other part says, "it's the past, and I'll just leave it there."  Yes, that is what I'll do, for now anyways.

I posted on Facebook something about Joyful January ending.  I  figured it was over and I won't have to visit it again for another 334 days, and I don't. But, I also just figured "themed months" would also retire.  I started getting responses about what I am going to call February?  Huh?  I need a theme for February, you mean I have to continually challenge myself?

I received some great ideas, and some, well, just silly.  "Fankful February", really Julee?

I finally landed on one by chance.  I was using the word fortitude for something and then I stopped to wonder what that word really means.  Of course I googled it and found this meaning, "Courage in pain or adversity."  I felt like I had found my word!  Not just for February, but for life.  I google "courage" and find,  "mental or moral strength to venture, persevere, and withstand danger, fear, or difficulty".  

So, If I have this right, I need to have 'mental strength in my pain.'  I google "mental strength."    

"Doesn’t ’toughness’ sound more burdensome and ’strength’ more empowering?

If you’re like me, I get a sense that toughness is more like “putting up with” and strength is more self-empowering and self-control.

In addition I would offer that the key part of the definition for ‘strength’ is the word ‘power’. To add to our understanding of what strength is, we’ll need now to define the word ‘power’.

Again, according to dictionary.com defines power as ‘the ability to cause things to happen‘. We can now define strength as ‘the capability to cause things to happen’."(http://www.warriormindcoach.com/blog/2010/05/27/what-is-mental-strength/)

So let me piece this together.  Fortitude means for me;
Mental capability to cause things to happen.  Not just to sit in my pain, but to move through or against my pain.  Fighting, not in a stressful, knots in shoulders kind of way, but with strength and self-control.  Not with weak emotions, but with broad, strong backed courage.

Bring on February!