Here's to strong women.
May we know them.
May we be them.
May we raise them.
Today is International Women's Day so let us ladies celebrate what it means to be a woman. Let us celebrate ourselves, our mothers, our daughters, and those women we aspire to. FEEL EMPOWERED. Be grateful for what you have and own it within yourself. Be confident and courageous, yet still graceful and gentle.
I would like to share with you a post I wrote a couple of weeks ago but did not publish, as I feel it is fitting today. As a woman in business, and particularly as a mother, there are some fierce challenges that come with the territory. Wondering if you are doing the right thing, the endless feelings of guilt surrounding investing energy into work compared to full-time parenting and all pinned on hopes and dreams, the day-to-day practicality of pulling it all off, the list goes on and on...
I strive to be a role model to my children and hope that when they are a little older that they might one day feel proud of their mum. And I hope that all the stress of these early days of running a business pays off and makes the sacrifices all worth it. Thank you to all my beautiful friends who believe in me, to my family for all their love and support, and to my darling husband for his unconditional huge heart - I don't know what I would do without you...
"How blissfully unaware babies are... If only they knew how the world revolves around them almost exclusively for the first few years of their life, if not the next twenty.
With my very young second child with me day in, day out, whilst working, one must succumb to the challenges it creates but also be reminded of the simplicity of life and love and what is truly important. The contented face of a just-fed baby in your arms, so trusting, so happy, so relaxed, just smiling and gazing enjoying the pleasure of a full belly and mummy's love. Even if mummy was duly stressed just minutes before, it melts away in these incredible moments. Perhaps also the second time around you capture these moments with yourself a bit more, knowing that if this is your last child, then soon there will be few remaining of these special embraces you will cherish. New parenting joys will come, but these ones will not return.
Children's innocence has a magic to it... Oh to be so oblivious, oh to be so protected from what awaits, from what life has in store. The ups, the downs, the possibilities... My darling girl won't know what I see right now until she too is a parent, much like my parents used to say to me. Her innocence is so heart-achingly beautiful that it puts all of life into perspective. What a blessing my baby is, what gratitude I have in these indescribable moments that make my life so worthwhile.
I hope one day I make you proud. I hope you still love your mummy when you are older, my sweet, sweet child. I hope one day you too know this exquisite joy."