Strength is often thought of as a single dimension. This here tree branch is "strong," this given person has a "strong" emotional constitution, this nation has a "strong"military, and all the like. But such conceptions of strength fail to account for the myriad conditions that go into making "strength" possible. Even if we turn to the body builder, that stereotypical symbol of our culture's notion of physical strength, many elements have to be in place for that physical strength to be possible.
There must be an established regimen of strength training, which itself is a strong or well established regime. There must be useful implements for building strength, the reproduction of which implies a strong industry or manufacturing process. The body builder must have a strong diet, and a strong work ethic, both of which require self-discipline, which also needs to be strong, and this in turn is encouraged by a strong family, which is only socially possible and culturally determined. Or of course one's family connections are weak by cultural standards, which produces another kind of urgency altogether, which develops strength in some other area, such as one's willpower. There are many ways for these conditions to arise.
And then of course for anyone to care about any of this at all, we must have landed here through historical developments and cultural determination among other things. What one respects as strong is necessarily what others may respect, or it is at least something that helps one maintain what one loves. I probably don't need to go much further than that at this point.
One element of strength is repetition. If strength is a sturdiness or constancy against some sort of disorganizing force, then it would follow that a given living arrangement would have to be constantly organized to provide that sturdiness. Repetition is a way to constantly fix energy and matter in a certain configuration, which eventually holds tighter the longer the process goes on, which can be used as leverage to manipulate energy and matter in other ways.
Strength can manifest in good habits that effect some sort of bodily constitution, or a mental state, which reinforces the regimen within which strength emerges. Take for example spiritual strength. Equanimity, or the evenness and stability of affect, arises out of one's diet, environment, relations, self-discipline, personal history, and many other elements, which can be combined in a number of ways. Great spiritual disciplines grow as a complex of practices, practices which marshal the senses in various ways, such as with incense, beautiful sounds, beautiful artistic and architectural imagery, social relations, repetitious rituals, and the like, all of which reinforce the strength of a given state of being.
If one of those elements is weakened, it does not necessarily mean that the entire arrangement falls into decline, but it does make it more probable for further weakness to spread if some sort of corrective or compensatory action is not taken. If multiple branches are weakened, then you have a greater chance of backsliding. But conversely, to make progress globally, one can slowly build strength in each area and feel the buoyancy that such assistance provides.
