Core strength. We all aspire to it. For a PR stunt (I hope) a company this week states they require a 6 pack abs to work there- it’s not even a fitness firm. As we age, develop medical issues, ortho problems that limit mobility, even medications, those 6 packs may refer to beer more than our body.

So, what’s this about? Searching for wellness, strength and a clear mind, we take responsibility. We take vitamin D3 and eat red and cruciferous vegetables to avoid cancer. We get the 15 min of exercise a day and spend time with friends for our minds, we limit alcohol and don’t smoke to avoid toxins (right?). We develop into our new best selves respecting that aging creeps and that a strong immune system is critical to well being.

When we face a challenge or even several at the same time: loss of loved ones, financial difficulties, separations, “failing” bodies, we work hard at re-establishing a new normal. Patients often discuss how their lives have changed after a diagnosis and treatment. We read, think and use our brilliant brains to adjust. We clean and repair our leaky guts. We modify what we eat and how we exercise for our physical hearts. We meditate, pray, do yoga and reach out to heal our emotional hearts.

The real power however, after all this “doing”, is not in the mind, stomach, heart or …. even joints. It is your “center”. Your core strength dictates your life. Your moral compass, your beliefs, your vision, your experiences, your trust in yourself and God, your direction, your fortitude. While I am radiating and navigating cancers, you are devoted to improving your health, what holds the ultimate power, is your internal guide.

It’s not the blood work or scans, it’s not the busy effort of cancer care. When I pay attention, I can witness this in every patient. Even the feeble and frail, the elderly with dementia, the physically challenged and medicated. I can detect almost instantaneously who is in the fight, who gave up too early and who is accepting their fate. It is never their degrees, business and financial success, their beauty or physical strength… or abs. There is an internal spirit of passion and power that makes all the difference in their outcomes.

I can’t see into their brain and I rarely look at their muscles. What I do witness is in the eyes. It is a fierceness, without words, saying “bring it on”, or even “I get it Doc. I am okay”. This is true beauty. Just like the new experiment to vacuum carbon from the sky (really?) I wonder if there is a suction force in exam room # 1 that manifests this amazing phenomenon.

Trust that it is your core, your center, your well earned fortitude (no matter how flabby) that directs your path. Never doubt that you always have that strength which aging, cancer and challenges can never ever erode. We build that core by experience and with facing hard times and issues and successfully surviving them.

This week it isn’t the mental acuity, or the physical well-being that will save the damaged lives in Maui. It is the strength at their core. We can take inspiration, even as we pray for them. We can marvel at their fierce courage and contemplate how each of us would handle that terrible tragedy.

Rest assured that no loss is too great to bear, no damage too difficult, no disease too threatening. Honor your values, principles and spiritual strength- therein lies the secret to tapping your own core of courage.