I strongly believe that a woman who is fueled by the SPIRIT, empowered with CONFIDENCE, and driven towards PURPOSE, is an unstoppable force.
You can have the most fabulous wardrobe and be on top of your beauty game, but if you don’t nurture yourself on the inside, you can only go so far. Just as a car, regardless of its exterior, can only go as far as its engine will take it, you must give your engine the proper maintenance to power through the challenges of life.
It can be hard to find the time to do both the inner and outer work. We live in a world that puts such high expectations on women. Our looks are constantly being compared to fabricated (and unrealistic) expectations, and the roles we are to fulfill are an evolving combination of both traditional and modern-day ones. If we dare try to put ourselves first, we can quickly be consumed by guilt.
But what happens if we wait until our engine breaks down to do the work? Can we bounce back without permanent repercussions?
MY FIRST TEST
My first truly traumatic experience that tested my engine to the core was giving birth to my stillborn son at 33 weeks gestation. I can say with certainty that there was nothing I could have done to prepare for that experience. I’m not sure I powered through it super smoothly. I was on survival mode for the longest time, simply trying to function, mostly for my daughter who was 22 months at that time. However, I was blessed enough that rather than setting off on a downward spiral from it, my loss prompted a spiritual journey in my life and lit a fire in my heart for supporting women in their emotional health.
My desire to connect with God, as well as share with others the hope my faith gave me in my healing, grew tremendously. I also felt by doing so I was carrying on a purposeful legacy for my son, which made the loss a little more bearable.
The first time I felt it was okay for still broken and severely imperfect me to take some sort of leadership role in counseling other women was when I formed a support group I called “Mommies of Angels,” shortly after my stillbirth. I felt God called me to do so. I knew that if I was looking for that bond and support, other women probably were, too. From there came other groups as I moved to new states, as well as individual interactions formed because of friends or acquaintances asking me to reach out to a loved one needing support.
I must admit, reaching out to women at a time in their lives when I KNOW they don’t want to hear from a stranger, and that nothing I say is going to greatly comfort them yet, has taken some balls. I don’t have a go-to speech when reaching out and I still get nervous that I will do it wrong. All I can do is ask God to empower and use me as an instrument of comfort to these women, and hope he puts the right words in my mouth. Miraculously so, I haven’t messed up or chickened out yet. What can I say, God has given me the right words and a pair of balls when I needed them (gotta love the irony of a balls analogy in the SHE-POWERED category).
THE POWER INGREDIENTS
SPIRIT
Whoever you pray to, and whatever your faith lies in, your spiritual fortitude is your engine’s power source. It is crucial not to plateau in this area and continue to have spiritual growth. Although I don’t like it, I believe that is one of the reasons life throws challenges our way. We need to be tested. Being in strong spiritual shape can help us power through the tests and come out on top. I’ve always been of strong faith. I even grew up wanting to be a nun (a dream put to rest when I learned they wear the same thing every day). But my loss in 2009 marked the beginning of what I consider my spiritual awakening. As vulnerable as it might make me feel, I know some of the revelations and experiences I’ve had on my journey, which are a blend of faith and spirituality, need to be shared.
CONFIDENCE
Confidence is in my opinion, one of the BIGGEST factors in women’s decision making. It can help you go big if you have it, settle if you’re unsure, or self-doubt if you lack it. Because my entire life up until recently has been a journey of confidence building, I’m excited to cover this topic and share what I’ve learned, and will continue to learn, along the way.
PURPOSE
We’re all created for something bigger than ourselves. That reason for our creation, and why we possess the unique qualities that we do, is our purpose. I strongly believe that the only way to be truly fulfilled is to lead a purpose-driven life. I’m passionate about inspiring women to connect with their purpose and maintain their identity outside of societal expectations. I experienced first-hand the effects of almost losing my personal identity and disconnecting with my purpose to focus on everyone else’s needs first (more of which I will cover on the blog). No one wins in that scenario.
LET’S GET SHE-POWERED!
I hope you join me on this path of embracing the power of our vulnerability and using it as our instrument to become someone stronger, more grounded, and fiercer than we ever thought possible. Let’s have our pitcher and ingredients ready so when life gives us lemons, we serve it an invigorating lemonade! Let’s do it together to help unite and strengthen the female force. Let’s get SHE-POWERED!
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