LIFE HAS COME FULL CIRCLE - 8TH DECEMBER 2016

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.