Three Amazing Women
Recently I have read three articles in the Daily Mail (yes, it is my newspaper of choice!) that have fascinated me. Each article is about a different woman and in each of them I read about a human being who has the courage to totally be themself irrespective of what the world says about them. They have each faced challenges and have chosen to manage them in different ways – some challenges of choice, some challenges that have been forced upon them. Each has responded in a way that is totally individual and, in my opinion, quite admirable.
Daily Mail 11th February
The first article was in the paper on February 11th and was written by and about a lady called Diana Athill. She writes with a style that whilst factual and quite no nonsense brings her warmth and joy of life to the front of one’s imagination. In addition to writing she recently started painting, travels extensively, visits friends and has a life where she lives every moment to the full. I think you may agree that this represents a full life for anyone – however, Diana is 92! What an inspiration. I sincerely hope that I can have her love of live and courage to keep trying new things at that age. Too often we forget that time is our most valuable commodity – worth far more than possessions that we tend to spend so much money on. If we counted all the hours that we waste and put a financial value on them we could probably buy a six bed roomed house!
Daily Mail 18th February
The next article that caught my interest was on February 18th and was written about Antonia Hime. Here is a 33 year old who on the face of it had it all – beautiful home, successful husband, three lovely children, lots of support for running the house and plenty of time for herself. And then the recession hit and suddenly her world fell apart. It would have been so easy to have spent the rest of her life moaning about how the banks and the massive recession were to blame for her lot in life; that it was their fault that she had lost her home and had to take her children out of school and she may have had some justification! She did none of those things. She refused to give in to a world where everything she knew was going pear shaped and the livelihood of her family was at risk – she opened her mind to new possibilities and when she saw an opportunity she just went for it. She now makes between 5,000 and 6,000 cup cakes every week and is selling them all over the country. How often do we blame the things outside of us for our problems in life? Too often I am sure – I know that for many years that I did. We pass the responsibility to someone else and forget the true meaning of the word. Responsibility = ability to respond. It is not what happens to us that counts; rather, it is how we choose to deal with it that makes the difference. I am sure that many people who read her article have huge admiration for a lady who just said ‘there has to be something that I can do’.
Daily Mail 19th February
The third scenario is very different and was published on February 19th. This is about Dr Helen Wright – the mother who went back to work 7 hours after having her baby daughter. Having had 6 children myself I felt quite shell shocked at the thought. Could I have gone back to my job in that timescale – looking after the children and running a home? Probably not and, more importantly, I wouldn’t have wanted to. However, I would defend anyone’s right to do exactly what is best for them and the fact that she feels able to, enjoys doing it and her work allows and supports her doing that, I have huge admiration for. She doesn’t appear to be concerned about what the world says about her as long as she feels that she is doing what is right for her, her family, her parents and students (she is a head teacher in a very large and successful public school). That I really admire, because I know how much of my life I spent trying to please other people, doing what I thought they wanted me to do and what I felt was expected of me. Having the courage to step out of that was, for many years, not part of my thinking.
Reading this article about Helen I could only admire her for having the courage to be exactly who she wanted to be and stay true to values that are clearly deeply embedded. I suspect those values are what makes her such an incredibly successful Head Teacher and I know that, if I still had young children, that is exactly the sort of school that I would like my children to attend.
So, three fascinating articles that each, in their own way, inspired me. Each different and yet, in many ways they have a common basis – people who have moved past the image of who they are ‘meant to be’ and chosen to stand up and act in their own individual and unique way. I raise my glass to them all!