Superheroes do more than fly (some swim too!)

Normally this blog is about me. Or really it’s about my journey to get back to believing in myself. I think it’s only fair to write about myself and not try to speak for other people. But today’s post is different.

I am often told by women that I am brave. Brave for being true to myself. Brave for leaving a marriage that I knew in my heart was over. Brave for quitting my job. Brave for starting two new businesses. Sometimes I feel brave. Sometimes I don’t. But I know I have to be true to myself in order to be the role model for my daughters that I want to be.

And the more that I am true to myself, the more I am attracted to and notice other women like me. They are brave too. In fact, in my book, they are more like superheroes.

This afternoon I came across this Facebook post by a friend who lives in Sydney. As I read it I was struck how brave she is to go swimming naked in Sydney Harbour. But she is facing her fears and raising money for charity all at the same time.

She is a superhero. She’s modelling the kind of woman she wants to be – for herself, for her family and for all other women out there. She handled the shit that’s been thrown at her in this lifetime and she’s doing it with style and grace.

So in honour of today being International Women’s Day, I’d like to pay tribute to just some of the other women superheroes who are in my life. They handle shit in a thousand different ways on a thousand different days, but they handle it.

There’s my friend who had her 14 year old son run away from home with no explanation and no word from him for months.  After a lot of shit that took time, that very son is not only home, but now at 17 is working and has straightened his life out with her support.

There’s the tribe member who is a teacher but also has a son with autism. She’s taking on the very department of education that she works for to ensure her own children get the education they need and deserve.

There’s my friend who works two jobs over seven days a week so her daughter can represent Australia playing baseball. Her hot water heater broke and she showered in cold water for three months before she could afford to fix it.

There’s my friend who was left by the father of her two children when they were both babies and who has created a brilliant beauty business from home. She keeps the women of Canberra beautiful and can still be there for her boys. She is strong and amazing and has lifted me up more than once when I was down.

There’s my friend in Michigan who has a son born with a very rare disease. She’s one of the most intelligent women I know and she chose 16 years ago to stay home with him so he can get the care he needs. She sits on the board of the foundation for his disease who are working for new treatments all the time.

There’s my trusted advisor in Baltimore who is an author and mentor to me in many ways. Her new book, Deliberate Acts of Kindness will come out soon and she’s challenging the way the world looks at kindness. Which must also be challenging for her as she is very opposed to the US government and spends much of her time tweeting and campaigning for change.

There’s a new friend in Canberra who is creating Three Feathers Modern Healing, a container for like minded women working in the wellness field to join together and support each other and offer healing.

And other new friend in Canberra who created Canberra Wise Women, a beautiful gathering of women who are interested in supporting each other, not tearing each other down. The group was founded after she and her husband were the victims of countless crimes and she suffered PTSD as a result.

There’s my soul sister who overcame a traumatic childhood to live an amazing life, raise her daughters and is now a respected woman in the financial services arena in Australia.

There’s my friend who moved to Australia from India, only to have her only sibling back home die weeks after their arrival here. She and her husband gave up on their dream of living in Australia and moved back to India to take care of her parents.

There’s another trusted advisor who was made to give up her baby for adoption in 1970 as an unmarried mother. She carried this secret inside of her for years but was eventually reunited with her daughter 37 years later. She is now one of Canberra’s most respected midwives and my Reiki teacher and I feel honoured to call her my friend.

There’s my friend who has handled much shit in her life, but has now decided to set up her own business and become a financial planner to help women learn to create their own financial abundance.

And the list goes on and on…

I am surrounded by superheroes. Or I guess to be correct, superheroines.

And I feel uplifted.

Each of these women live lives like me where they are true to themselves. They have stood in the storms of their lives, adjusted their sails (and their capes) and kept going. These are the role models our young women have in their lives. Which gives me hope for the future. When all you hear and see in the news is negative, when people like Kim Kardashian are held up as role models, when more and more people are trying to escape their lives with drugs or alcohol or social media, these real-life superheroines give me hope.

Each of them, and many many more like them, inspire me daily to keep going when the shit feels particularly deep and difficult to handle. I love and admire them for their strength and their grace.

All of us superheroines, doing our own little part, make each and every day International Women’s Day.