Don’t Call Me Strong

You know how it is, sister. The world loves to call us “strong,” don't they? They say it like it’s a crown, as though being strong is the highest compliment they can give us. But let’s be honest, what does it really mean when they call us strong?

Every day, we rise to a world that pulls at us from every side, a world that seems to demand our resilience as if it’s something we owe. For many of us, it begins with family: our aging parents who need support and care look to us.  We’re there for every appointment, every emergency, every difficult decision. Then there are the kids. No matter how old they get, they always seem to need us. They come back. Searching for stability, for answers, for a place to land when the world outside feels uncertain. And if that wasn’t enough, there are the friends who lean on us. We’re the listening ear, the steady shoulder, the ones who show up when life throws heartbreak, illness, or job loss their way. And let’s not forget our partners. They need reassurance too, companionship, strength, even as they wrestle with their own struggles.

Oh, and work? Let’s not even start on that. It’s not enough to be good at what we do. No, we have to be exceptional, carrying more than our share while proving ourselves over and over. And somehow, through all of this, we’re expected to carry it with grace, to make it look effortless.

When they see us juggling all of this, You hear things like “You’re such a strong woman, shouldering all of that with so much poise and grace.” They say it as a compliment, but isn’t “strong” just a polite way of saying, “You will endure it all because it is expected of you” Isn’t it a quiet permission to demand more and more from us who are already overwhelmed? When we use strength to justify the burdens placed on women, it becomes less a virtue and more a shackle. But here’s the truth: being called strong doesn’t ease the weight. It doesn’t see the tears we cry in private, the exhaustion we carry, or the moments we wish we could just stop and breathe.

Sister, let’s call it what it is. The word “strong” has become a quiet way of justifying the endless demands placed on us. It tells us to keep going, to keep sacrificing, to keep giving. But who’s there when we need to lean on someone?

More Than Sandwiched: Pressures from All Sides

We’ve all heard about the “sandwiched generation”, those of us caught between caring for our parents and our children. But for us, it’s more than that. Life doesn’t just pull us in two directions; it boxes us in completely. The expectations come from all sides: family, friends, work, community. It’s not just a sandwich, it’s a full-on containment. And when we’re stretched so thin that we’re barely holding it together, the world claps its hands and says, “Look at how strong she is!”

We praise women for their resilience, for their strength, for their quiet endurance. But we rarely ask: at what cost? What does it mean for a woman to carry so much and still be expected to carry even more?

The Invisible Weight of Being “Strong”

Sister, let’s have a real conversation about what it means to carry all this. Let’s say it out loud: being called strong shouldn’t mean we don’t get tired. It shouldn’t mean we don’t need help or support. It shouldn’t mean we have to do it all alone. We are more than what we endure. We are more than the sacrifices we make.

When we call a woman strong, we overlook the quiet moments when she feels the weight of her responsibilities pressing down on her. We miss the times she wonders if anyone will be there to lift her up. This is the paradox of strength: we praise it, yet we use it to justify adding more. Strength becomes a kind of confinement. We see her resilience but not her humanity.

Don’t Call Me Strong

So don’t call me strong if it means you will forget that I, too, get tired. Don’t call me resilient if it means you will assume I don’t need support. Don’t call me capable if it means you’ll add to the weight I already carry.

Strength can be beautiful, yes, but only when it has space to breathe. For too long, we’ve defined women by what we can endure, by how much we can give. But we are more than our endurance. We are more than our sacrifices. We are human, with our own needs, with a right to rest, a right to live lives that do not demand we prove our worth through relentless giving alone.

This is why spaces like Sister’s Circle exist. This is why we gather, not to prove our strength but to lay down the weight of expectation. To share our stories in a place where we don’t have to be strong or resilient, but simply human. Here, we can peel back the layers, shed the invisible armor, and find a place where we are truly seen.

Sister’s Circle: A Community for Women, A Legacy of Leadership

The Sister’s Circle is a growing global community of women dedicated to nurturing the next generation of leaders, while sharing our stories and supporting one another. Here, we come together as women who understand. We’ve been there. We’ve felt the exhaustion, the frustration, the longing for a moment to just be. This is where we share our stories, not just the victories, but the struggles too. This is where we lift each other up, where we remind ourselves that we’re not alone.

Through the Sister’s Circle, we’re building something powerful. Together, we’re redefining leadership, not as a solitary climb but as a shared journey. We’re teaching each other and the next generation that true strength isn’t about how much you can take. It’s about knowing when to lean on your sisters.

So, if you’re a mentor guiding young women, a mother shaping the future, or a woman navigating the complexities of career and family, the Sister’s Circle is your community. In this space, we are committed to empowering each other and creating a legacy that lifts the next generation of women to lead with courage, compassion, and authenticity. Join us as we redefine leadership, not as a solitary journey but as a sisterhood of shared purpose.