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When I think of inspirational woman, and more specifically women who inspire me, I realise the list could be long…..very long. I immediately think of:
Malala Yousafzai
Oprah
Louise Hay
Cleopatra
Amelia Earhart
Rosa Parks
Ita Buttrose
And I could go on.
So many inspiring women, all for different reasons, from different times, from different places but they usually have a strength and authenticity in common. They share the determination not to be kept quiet and they refuse to do only that which is expected or currently accepted.
They speak up, they stand proud and they often so against the flow of current normality, and act despite what is widely thought possible or maybe more accurately impossible, and what has previously been achieved.
Yet as I contemplated this I couldn’t help thinking of another person. A woman not well known, a woman not celebrated by the world and yet a woman just as inspiring, just as strong.
She has quietly gone about her life and weathered storms and disappointments, heartbreak and tragedy. She has lived through ‘progress’ and change far greater than those of my generation could ever imagine.
She has lived through wars and felt the effects of the Great Depression.
She has loved and lost and continued to love despite the pain.
She experienced divorce in the early 70’s, a time when it was not just rare but frowned upon and judged.
She set up a home when her marital home was no longer hers and paved a career as a single mother before it was probably even a term.
She lived through the death of a son with strength and love.
She has given support to her children as their lives have unfolded in expected and unexpected ways.
She has made mistakes and tried again.
She has endured heartbreak and welcomed love.
She has rested but never given in.
She embraced international travel for the first time in her 60’s, venturing to places only dreamed of and relished the experiences.
She battled and beat cancer at 89.
These are but of snap shot of what she has experienced, what she has shared, what she has achieved, what she has lived through and enjoyed and how she has impacted others. Her life will never be talked about in the media, or turned in to a film, or even written about in a book but it is a life well lived, a life that has touched others, and the world is a better place for her presence.
She has done all of this and more with perfectly manicured nails, her hair always done, her clothes immaculately matching and with her trademark floral perfume. And always a splash of pink! All of this for no other reason other than that is the way she likes it to be!
When life has thrown her challenges, she has handled them with grace and elegance and dignity. I have never heard her bemoan others and yet I have seen her support many.
Throughout her 90 years she has remained loving and accepting, supportive and encouraging, gentle yet strong.
Last week we celebrated this woman’s 90th birthday. She still stands tall, her smile still lights up a room and her life has touched many.
As we stood in a room celebrating with 40 of her closest family I realised what a life well lived looks like. It isn’t all about accolades or awards, fame or fortune, it is about those you touch. It is about leaving a mark that means this world is a better place for you having lived in it.
That is inspiring.
It is these people that are inspirational.
Inspiration is about being true to yourself. It is about enduring the downs and celebrating the ups. It is about sharing and caring and loving with all your heart, even at the risk of it breaking. It is about taking what life deals you and making the absolute most of it, in your own way.
This is what she has done and this is what I see as inspirational.
You don’t have to look to Hollywood or the newsstands or bestselling book lists to find inspirational women.
Inspiration can be found in the Teacher who shares her own struggle with dyslexia, or the Nurse who sits up all night caring for a patient, or the school girl who stands up to the school yard bully, or the shop keeper who makes every customer feel important.
Inspirational women can also be found right in your neighbourhood, even right in your own family and how privileged am I to have found one of these inspirational women in the person who is my Nan!!
Don’t forget when you are looking for inspiration sometimes you don’t have to look any further than your own backyard!