As a single working mother of three, time is a rare commodity and stopping to smell the roses is well… difficult at best. It is something I am working on though, with a lot of help from my kids. To be present and not five steps ahead, planning the next meal, prepping for my next meeting while mentally signing everyone’s permission form for the class trip next month. My kids are constantly helping me to live in the moment and forcing me to smell the roses ,which in fact is the key to many happiness strategies. A distressed 5-year-old needs you now, not five minutes from now. It is with this new mindfulness tool that I was able to stop and look around only to find I was surrounded by a legion of Superwomen.
They of course had been around me all along but I had been so busy (God, how I hate that word) carrying on with raising people and building a life that I had never stopped to look around me. Oh of course I would read about them in articles, blogs and posts but they were not tangible. They seemed like fictional characters far from my reach. It was lonely a place at times. Even surrounded by family and friends, I often felt alone in my circumstances.
One day after dropping the kids off at school, I waited by the yard and watched as they went in. I usually rush off to work but that day I paused and watched as they congregated with their friends and lined up as the bell rang. The roses smelled good. I started chatting with one of the moms. As we talked, I discovered she too was a single working mother running her own show. My heart leapt as she spoke about all things native to me – our own language of just doing it all – homework, meals, meetings, closing deals and presentations. She too was owning it. The joys, the pain, the heartache and at the core of it all – the profound love for our children and the inner strength that got us through the day.
Later that week, in my yoga class, I got to my mat early to enjoy vinyasa but instead I walked up to a fellow yogi and asked her how she was. During our conversation I learned of her daily struggles and triumphs as a single working mother of three. She spoke the language too – soccer practice, sibling rivalry and even going back to school for another degree. They were all around me – my dry cleaner, my colleague, my financial advisor. With each woman I spoke with, my affirmation grew. This was the rise of the Superwoman.
We all had different stories and circumstances but one thing was consistent – no one was complaining. It was not a plight we had been saddled with. It was not a negative conversation on our lot in life. It was just the opposite actually. We were all sharing for the purpose of empowerment. Whether consciously or subconsciously, that is exactly what we are doing – drawing strength from one another through our stories and experiences, through our everyday lives. It is a positive flow of energy with every story we exchange.
Share your stories, be real. Stop and smell the roses. Live in the present. There is so much inspiration all around us. Our real life superheroes are right beside us. Just stop and look. We are all Superwomen making the impossible possible through our uncanny abilities to juggle and stand on one foot while doing it!
Draw strength and power from those around you. Trust me, you are not alone. You never were and you never will be.
Rise up ladies, rise up.
