Strong Like Water Quotes

“Is there a different way? What if emotional health doesn’t always look like being “the strong one”? What if sometimes it means stepping back and letting ourselves receive or grieve or feel? What if it’s not just facing hard things—though that matters—but also knowing our limits? What if it’s loving others, but also letting ourselves be loved? What if the truest strength is as expansive as the tide; the fierce and gentle elements dancing together as one? What if this strength has the flexibility to be both soft and bold; to both nourish and protect—because it is rooted in a foundation of love rather than fear? What could life be like if you were strong like water?”
― Aundi Kolber, Strong like Water: Finding the Freedom, Safety, and Compassion to Move through Hard Things—and Experience True Flourishing

“There is undoubtedly an ebb and flow to being human, and that is no accident. Our Creator knows how vital and foundational rest is to our well-being. It’s such an important concept that God commanded the Jewish people to take a full day every week to cease labor on the Sabbath.”
― Aundi Kolber, Strong like Water: Finding the Freedom, Safety, and Compassion to Move through Hard Things—and Experience True Flourishing

“This verse is a powerful example of modeling both glimmers and resourcing for believers. It’s vital we remember that we have a God who can hold and honor both our lament and our joy. We don’t and shouldn’t shame uncomfortable emotions (like sadness, anger, despair, confusion). We know we have a God who asks us to “weep with those who weep” (Romans 12:15, ESV). But as we look at the Philippians passage, we see that we are also invited to honor and cultivate emotions that bring us comfort. They’re just as important.”
― Aundi Kolber, Strong like Water: Finding the Freedom, Safety, and Compassion to Move through Hard Things—and Experience True Flourishing

“Philippians 4:8: “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.”
― Aundi Kolber, Strong like Water: Finding the Freedom, Safety, and Compassion to Move through Hard Things—and Experience True Flourishing

“Yet as my friend and fellow therapist Chuck DeGroat points out, God still turned toward them[24] when He asked Adam a vital question: “Where are you?” (Genesis 3:9). In a sense, Adam and Eve had tried to disconnect from God’s love, but God’s love didn’t disconnect from them. God came for them, even in their sin. Chuck writes, “God makes an incarnational move. God moves toward them, searches them out, and when God finds them they are clothed by the Divine Seamstress. God’s movement toward them signifies an indelible message—I am your God. I will be with you. I will not abandon you.”[25]”
― Aundi Kolber, Strong like Water: Finding the Freedom, Safety, and Compassion to Move through Hard Things—and Experience True Flourishing

“[Just as] biodiversity increases resilience to negative events because a single predator cannot wipe out an entire ecosystem, emodiversity may prevent specific emotions—in particular detrimental ones such as acute stress, anger or sadness—from dominating the emotional ecosystem. For instance, the experience of prolonged sadness might lead to depression but the joint experience of sadness and anger—although unpleasant—might prevent individuals from completely withdrawing from their environment. The same biodiversity analogy could be applied to positive emotion. Humans are notoriously quick to adapt to repeated exposure to a given positive emotional experience; positive experiences that are diverse may be more resistant to such extinction.[”
― Aundi Kolber, Strong like Water: Finding the Freedom, Safety, and Compassion to Move through Hard Things—and Experience True Flourishing