What does "Strong" Mean?

[Gentle reminder, the Melvin Homecoming Party!  is October 14th.]

As I have been preparing for the surgery and the emotional weight of that situation, I have been told in a few different ways by a few different people that I am a strong person.  There's no way to say I agree without sounding egotistical on some level, but here we go anyway--there are some ways that I feel I am a strong person.

This has stirred up a few questions.  Why do I agree?  What is it that makes anyone strong?  What kinds of strong are there?  In trying to narrow it down, I've created a very basic outline below on some of the commonalities.  
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Step 1:  Suffer
Something "significant" has to happen to said person--without something to overcome, what does the person have to be strong for?  This world is chaos and "significant suffering" is inevitable, that everyone will lose family members, will go through their own self-crisis, will find themselves vulnerable at some point.  However, the timing of this suffering can also be a contributing factor in the "level" of suffering--for example, Andy and I were married ten days when I went in for my first surgery, and I will only be thirty years old going into this permanent ostomy.  As another example, a child with cancer can merit different reactions to a grandparent with the same condition, though this is all suffering.  I am not interested in labeling who has it worse, but mostly I want to point out that sometimes there are factors such as age, situation, how recent other events might be, that change the frame around that suffering.

Step 2:  Endure
Survive.  Live in spite of that suffering.  Take everything a day at a time.  Keep making phone calls to arrange appointments or government official or appeal an insurance decision.  Get through the immediate reaction with all the tears and anger necessary to do so.  

Step 3:  Bounce
This is a step beyond merely surviving, going back to living.  Begin to reclaim elements of your life.  Go back to work when possible.  Continue to smile even when you feel that you shouldn't remember how.  Find ways to laugh at yourself again.  Finding this new normal, it will involve letting yourself eventually feel some joy again.  Sometimes putting on a brave face, sometimes allowing yourself to be vulnerable.

Step 4:  Continue to Endure
Sufferings are not over even when they have passed.  What happened will always be a part of you.  Grieving is not about getting back to where you were before (the suffering); grieving is about learning to carry on.  If the event itself is truly over, there are residual feelings, trauma, relationship restructuring, and even legal paperwork that need to be addressed.  Things cannot simply go back to the way they were.  And things may not necessarily be over.  Losing a loved one begets rethinking traditions and day-to-day processes.  Recovering from abuse involves constant breaking and reforming of those learned habits, working through that trauma.  Dealing with a chronic illness is a terrible roulette, wondering when bad luck is going to find you again.  Keep enduring, keep bouncing, keep going.  Embrace the new normal, and each time it changes again.  Find a way to keep smiling.  

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The best answer that I have come up with, then, as to what makes someone "stronger" than someone else is that perhaps there is a certain manner that they bounce.  The severity of the suffering is important, but not as important as the resilience of the individual.  And another question:  what does resilience look like?  

I have retained an ability to laugh and specifically to laugh at myself.  I can swing things into a positive light.  I can talk about many components openly that others cannot.  I can knuckle down to make eight different calls in one morning to sort out my healthcare needs.  I can take time to be vulnerable.  I can be there to feel with others going through hard times, too.  Is that what strength is?  Is it one thing or a combination of things or are these just "signs" of what it is?

For all this, I still haven't hammered down a good, clean definition--and I've been sitting on this post, now, for a couple of weeks.  I think that means, then, that it is time to open up this question to you all.  What are your thoughts?