The Little Engine That Could

Day 38

Affirmation: 

I will never again let life tell me, “no.”

               ______________

It’s so easy to quit fighting when met by obstacles.  Or to give up when it seems like trying is all you’re doing, never succeeding.   Or to feel like a victim to life.  Who hasn’t been there?   Today I’m reminded of the woman who taught me the meaning of empowerment.   Frida survived both World Wars while living in eastern Europe, and an abusive marriage.   Many times, she told me, she wanted to die, “but something inside me couldn’t quit.”  Eventually she left Europe and her husband, started her own business and a new life.   She thrived, became very successful and lived a full 97 years of life.   I asked her once what got her through all the hard times.   “You listen and I tell you,” she said. “No matter what I go through I know I always have my God.   And, I know I am here for a reason or else I would be dead, so it is my job to find a reason.”   Then she took my face in her hands and that little woman, just barely four and a half feet tall,  in her thick Hungarian accent said, “I never let life tell me no.  I made life say yes to me!”    When I’m crumbling under the weight of experience or life wants to know what I’m made of, instead of backing down, I will stand tall and courageous, with the wisdom of a heroine to encourage me.