LIFE HAS COME FULL
CIRCLE
God has been my
creator, my partner in life. I thank God today, as I turn 70 and life has come
full circle.
Surprised –YES, Disturbing – Somewhat, Excited - Very much, not
knowing “what next” is invigorating.
The journey of my life has been very interesting, adventurous,
steep climbs and deep inclines, ravines and valleys, violence to victory,
poverty to riches & from nothing to everything - I have been there and done
that.
Would I want to live that life again? Absolutely, it made me
the strongest person, I ever knew myself to be.
The most frightened little girl that I was; grew up to become a strong
woman of substance that I would never want to change for anything, or wish it
were different. That journey has made me
what I am today. I found my purpose in life and I needed these
obstacles and problems, to chisel me and mould me as God wanted me to be, perfect
in His way.
A strong woman knows she has strength enough for the
journey, but a woman of strength knows that it is in the journey, where she
will become strong. That’s exactly what happened to me.
As a little girl, struck with polio wearing those heavy
steel boots, strapped to my thigh & dragging myself, was not what I wanted
myself to be seen as or being teased as lame, langdi etc. It was not what I wanted
to hear. I wanted to stand tall, erect and look the world in the eye. I was given a death sentence of being stuck
in those boots for life. Apart from that many other life sentences were doled
out to me but NO! Not me. That was not me.
As I grew up, life became a challenge at every step of the
way and I fought to maintain my own dignity as a person and a woman. Imagine challenging the society and the
powers that be, to make everyone understand that each one of us is a piece of
the DIVINE and have a right to live with dignity and self respect. Just because I was a woman, in the eighties, it
meant I had no rights as a person.
Nobody had to give me those rights; they are inherent rights of every
person, whether male or female.
It was no easy task, to challenge the society, who till today,
are intimidated by me but that did not stop me from becoming what I am today. Going
out into the world, earning a living and making a life for myself and the
responsibilities that I had to fulfill as a woman & a mother, irrespective
of everything else.
I have travelled the world, worked with people from
different nationalities, different countries wonderful people, who till today
have remained my friends. Because I
touched them and made a difference, which was not my job, but in being that
friend, it brought me close to them and it was me as a person who made a
difference in their lives.
But behind all this was a dream; a dream to do something
that was deep inside me, which settled deep in my heart, when I healed myself of
polio and many other illnesses that came my way and ravaged my body, which made
me realise how important “this body – the temple of God” is; the most perfect
GIFT from God.
Every step of my way, I had a dream.
I gave up a lucrative job, to do what I loved doing best,
teaching women to stay fit and healthy and in turn giving them a piece of ME, giving
them what they should be getting for themselves.
I am a single woman for as long as I can remember. I never
felt alone or lonely or isolated. I have a fan following of young people and
old people, I have friends who love me to bits, and I have people in my life,
who love me for what I am.
I have never been dependent. I always strived to be self
dependent, and stay that way, for as long as I can. And God has been good to
me, for giving me talents, which I use for his greater glory, and his
people. When I stand before God, at the
end of my life, I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent left,
and I could say “I used everything you gave me Lord”..
“It takes courage to dream, to face our futures and the
limiting forces within us. It takes courage to be determined, as we slow down
physically, we are going to grow even more psychologically and spiritually.
Courage, the philosopher Aristotle taught us, is the most important of all the
virtues, because without it we can’t practice any of the others.
Courage is the
nearest star that can guide our growth. Maya Angelou said we must be courageous
about facing and exploring our personal histories. We must find the courage to
care and to create internally, as well as externally, and as she said, we need
the courage “to create ourselves daily as Christians,”
And today I can proudly say, that I AM WHAT GOD INTENDED ME
TO BE….HIS PERFECT, TALENTED, INSPIRING, OUT REACHING WOMAN OF SUBSTANCE. HIS CREATION.
