“The strength of a woman can carry the weight of the world and remain a nurturing gem to the world and the people she loves.” The beauty about a woman is more than appearance it is about her ability to remain confident even when she does not have all the answers, she manages to be the glue to that holds everything and everyone together when needed. I am very blessed and grateful for the strength of my mother, being present to her effortless ability to make it happen by any means necessary has always been inspiring.   Being a woman is a job in itself but being a mother and a nurturer to the world is a unique role because no matter what our love and strength over comes all.  I have been blessed to connect with a lot of women with some amazing stories that listening them broke my heart but seeing how they overcame these experiences better than before is one of a kind.   Even when we do not have all the answers to life, we have the understanding that love solves all and heals all wounds.

The very things that makes us who we are a lot of the times are the very things that were meant to break but instead became the foundation that helped us realize our strength.  I was once a victim of molestation at a very young age and for years there were things that I grew up fearing, including the courage to share this with anyone. I was embarrassed and deep down even though I was only nine years old I carried this burden for years, the older I got I learned that this was bigger than me. I met a lot of woman that shared similar experiences some more severe than others, they were not afraid to share in order to set others like myself free. It set me free because I could not believe how brave and how transparent they were to share their pain that in return help someone else heal was a blessing to receive and witness. The one thing I heard from a very wise woman was when she said, “I share because this burden is not my own to carry, I was no longer taking responsibility for someone else’s actions, neither will I allow them to mean anything about me.” For years I felt as though I was tainted and told myself that I was damaged, all it took was the strength of a woman to share her truth that inspired me to free myself to no longer carry this weight with me anymore loving myself was the only choice I had in order to heal.

Another pivotal moment in life for women I believe is motherhood, it is one of the most beautiful and life changing experience that is also a great risk, the pain we endure, and the changes our body goes through during and after does not come with instructions.  One of my fears from being raised by a single mother and knowing women that experienced this, was that I never wanted to experience this by myself. I had the honor of meeting a beautiful young lady that shared how the last two years after having her child being a very depressing time for. The depression was not due to her beautiful baby it was due to the lack of appreciation and verbal abuse by her husband, it is possible to be alone even when there is a significant other involved in their life physically but are emotionally absent and lacking compassion.  Her ability to be all that her baby needed during the midst of this was more than inspiring to me. I connected to her on another level when she said to me “I am committing to myself because this is my time to find myself and begin loving myself again. Just like that she reclaimed her herself and began living in her truth and loving herself like she deserves to be. The love for her child even when she did not have the strength to love herself was enough to keep her going until enough became enough and she was sick and tired of being sick and tired.  I shared this to say that there was no mistake made when God created a woman and we must always remember that we are soft and nurturing beings with strength that cannot be measured. I am encouraging all the women reading today to love yourself first and understand that We can carry the weight of the world on our shoulders and still stand with our heads held and remain nurturing and loving.