TO THE WOMAN with the full-time career, who occasionally feels the guilt of the life choices she has made… you are doing a great job. You’re an inspiration, keep on your path if feels right for you and don’t bow down to societal pressures until it suits, if ever. Young women everywhere will look up to you for it. Your life, your way.
TO THE WOMAN who sometimes feels bad for her lack of ambition and her ability to just ‘be’ and plod along with a ‘normal’ life… you are doing a great job. You’re an inspiration, happiness is a choice not a destination and you know what, you’re showing the way every day. Enjoy it.
TO THE WOMAN who is knee deep in familial life – literally on her knees – with the tiredness and the worry and the fear…you are doing a great job. Stay strong, you’re an inspiration, this phase passes all too soon and you’ll look back and wonder where it all went. Those little people need you and you’re everything to them. It won’t always be this hard.
TO THE WOMAN who wishes she was exhausted from caring for a family, for whom this gift has not been bestowed. You’re doing a great job. You want something with every fibre of your being and yet you cannot have it. It hurts. It hurts like hell. Please use the love that is brimming within you and spread it around those already in your life and keep inviting in even more souls who will flourish under you. You have so much to give.
TO THE WOMAN who finds life just that bit more difficult than most, who struggles with the dark clouds and fights an invisible enemy, day-in, day-out. You’re an inspiration. Your story could be someone’s saviour one day, so please don’t give up, this is just a chapter, not the whole book. You are a warrior. Keep fighting.
TO THE WOMAN who is dealing with the worst kind of grief, a loss so deep it engulfs any other life around it. You’re doing a great job. Life has dealt you a black hand and yet you are still here, showing up every day. To say you are an inspiration is not doing you justice. You are amazing. One day time will heal your heart just enough for you to smile and feel the light again. Hang on in there. Someone somewhere needs you still.
TO THE WOMAN who has found herself alone and wonders how this could have happened. You are an inspiration. It is not over for you yet, in fact, quite the opposite. Yes you feel alone but you are also free to adventure and there is a whole world of experiences awaiting you. Be brave. It is your time now, even it feels the opposite way. Go for it, really go for it.
TO EVERY WOMAN everywhere, no matter the life you live, the choices you make or the circumstances dealt to you. You are amazing. You are an inspiration to someone, somewhere and your story matters.
It really matters.
Live it, then tell it. Tell it as often as you can. That’s how inspiration works. Look around you only to admire, encourage and support – there is no need to feel pressure to change or conform. Your life. Your way.
We are all in this together ladies, we all need each other.
Donna Ashworth
LPIO 2018
