stellauk
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I can start here from the obvious and say it depends.. There's a polarity about any trait which can cause it to be seen in a positive or negative way.
To me the reason why is also important. Here again much also lies open to interpretation. Is being stubborn because you are right acceptable? To me if it is just so that you can claim a victory in an argument or conflict, then no, I don't find this acceptable. However if it is so that you can claim victory in a struggle for positive change either for yourself or others then yes, I find that very acceptable.
I am stubborn when it comes to my decisions and actions and I will remain so until either I have fulfilled that decision or I see that I have made a decision in error. To me this is the only way you achieve things or get something done.
I am stubborn when it comes to dealing with other people. We can agree, disagree, we can be in conflict, but the opportunity to resolve any conflict or disagreement always exists and all it takes is a matter of effort and effective communication. When you take away that possibility and shut down communication this isn't something I see as stubbornness, but someone putting up a mental block.
I am stubborn when it comes to many of my beliefs and principles. Why?
I believe that I am just like anyone else, I am both physical and spiritual, and connected to both a physical, material realm of existence and a spiritual one. I get ideas and inspiration out of nowhere. I go to sleep tired and exhausted, unable to think, and I wake up feeling refreshed and full of energy again. That must come from somewhere.
This is where I see a difference between stubbornness and strength. I see strength in abstract terms as nothing more than giving yourself or others chances or finding opportunities to find a way through.
Strength to me is not stubbornness, and it's not just about physical effort. Strength to me is also something which we can express through showing qualities as compassion, kindness, understanding and love. These are things which come from the spiritual part of us, they are abundant.
I have been told quite a few times that it's wrong to be too kind, too compassionate, that people will take advantage. I have been told that I am being foolish for wanting to be kind and compassionate to others. That I'm being idealistic, a dreamer, unrealistic. I see it the other way, I see the inability to show kindness or compassion to be weakness.
This is where I am being stubborn, because I believe that everybody is somebody, and that it doesn't matter who the person is, or what they have done, we should not give up on that person. They can give up on themselves, of course. Not everybody can be strong, none of us can be strong all the time, we all have our weaknesses and times when we cannot cope.
I define weakness as giving up, as a lack of effort.
But this is where I see a difference between stubbornness and strength. You can give up and be weak, and still be stubborn. To me strength comes from that compassion , that kindness, that love, of never giving up, of doing what is necessary to find opportunities, to do what you can to give yourself and other people chances.
That to me is strength. Strength is when you have the courage to go into an unknown situation and somehow make it through to achieve what you want to achieve.
Think about the one person who has exerted the strongest influence on your life. Chances are, you will be thinking of a woman, one woman, your mother. The chances are she will be your strongest influence because either of what she has provided you through the kindness, compassion and love she has shown, or what you feel she has deprived you of through the denial of the same things - compassion, kindness and love - that you were expecting and feel that you were never given.
This to me is the clearest example of where strength and stubbornness are not necessarily the same thing.
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Usually when you have all the answers for something nobody is interested in listening.
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How much does stubbornness have to do with strength - 
Three years ago, I took a stand born out of pain, to never be called a drug addict again, by a medical community that doesn't understand or treat pain. I refused to go to doctors and have only been a couple times. That was stubborn considering the pain I live in and my health. 
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