Undying, Within The Soul, Grab It From Nowhere...Strength

I've been thinking a lot about strength lately. The properties of strength. The weak vs. the strong. And what defines it...
I had recently just finished a book that made me think just that much more about it. Vanished  by Danielle Steel. If you are a reader I strongly recommend it. So back to strength.
What do you think defines a person as strong? Is it someone that has never been through anything tough in their life, so they have had nothing weaken them. Is it a cold hearted person that let's no one around them, a gaurded and bitter person that trusts no one, a gentle person that has been through trauma...ect ect?
I think that a strong person is one that has been through some devastating things, someone that has been knocked down over and over, someone who has at time felt worthless, untouchable, interchangable, disposable...ordinary. I think that if you can go through that and through things that has forever scarred and branded you, and then you stand up, scream, and pick up your sword to continue...to face your fears...to pursue your dreams when you have no valid reason to. Stength resides in someone that can wake up and face the day. It is held within someone that keeps following that dim but visible light...someone who handles it all themselves, smiles, says nothing, and keeps running instead of pushing it off on other people. Strength...
The ones who are scared to death but keep fighting, those who survive against all odds, those who change the unchangable, those who break, and those who cry but never give in no matter the cost. That, my friends, that is strength. Never think otherwise.
So next time you look at someone that looks like they can take on any situation even though their size disagrees, or someone that looks like they are to broken and helpless to take another step, or even someone who is smiling while their eyes say something else, remember that strength lies in the most unexpected of people. Place your bets on them because they are the most willing to continue and to fight. Never count them out.