Happy International Woman’s Day!

 

Do You remember…the Journey you had since you were a baby to the Woman You are today?

Just yesterday, someone sent me a YouTube video of Yang Pei, a young lady who lost her arms at the age of 8. She…overcome the challenges and today have learnt to make a living thru selling her cross stitched work in China.

At the age of 13, Bethany Hamilton lost her left arm to a shark attack while surfing. She… fought adversity and today is still surfing, found love and is happily married.

Closer to home, I learned the story of Jie Er who is 8 years old and was diagnosed with Leukaemia last year. She…and her family is still fighting the challenges that Life has thrown at them.

Learning from all these inspiring stories, I reflected on mine.

At age of 10, when I lost my Dad, the World Crashed down on Me.  Mum, who was a housewife was overwhelmed with grief and at the same time needed to learn to take over the role of the sole breadwinner.  My older sister, found work as a flight stewardess and was home at timing different from us, so we seldom spent time together.

Most of the time…I was home alone, eating my meals alone, so alone that I often cried myself to sleep.  Slowly, I learnt that there are people out there who are in situation 10 times worse than mine, so why should I wallow in self-pity?  I picked myself up and built a Fortress around Me. I grew up angsty, negative and always ready to snap at someone!   I used to lament, WHY am I a Woman, absolutely hated the feeling of being so Emotional.  Being a Man would have been easier, I think?

We, Women…go thru struggle, BIG or small and we sometimes carry too much and refuse to Let Go. We tend to think too much, worry too much and lose ourselves in the Journey. 

I applaud the Courage, the Strength that Yang Pei, Bethany and Jie Er found thru their adversity.  

Learning from them, We…Women Can Be So Much More! So take a breather when We need, Keep Counting Our Blessing, Keep Smiling and Let’s Keep Each Other Going!! 

Become the Change, You want to see…
Instead of belittling, Uplift
Instead of demolishing, Rebuild
Instead of misleading, Light the Way so that all of US can Stand on Higher ground.                                                        –      Oprah Winfrey