I rise…
I’ve thought about this quote often in my life…
When I was bullied in grade school because my last name was different from my mother’s. The 60s were a difficult time for the children of divorce because it was such a new phenomenon and people fear what isn’t familiar.
But even as a child, I rose above the bullying.
When I missed prom, senior day, and all the fun festivities of high school life because no one asked me to attend.
When I was told I was fat and ugly and everyone hated me because I thought I was smart and teacher’s pet. ( P.S. I was smart.)
When I was called difficult and overstepping by a doctor because I challenged him on a patient’s status. (P.S. I was right, in the end, and the doctor never wanted to work with me again.)
And I rose to a position of authority within the nursing department, forcing the doctor to work with me or move his patients. He didn’t move his patients.
When I was told the hospital/clinic wouldn’t give me the raise I deserved because I wasn’t worth the money. (P.S. I got the raise after I threatened to walk off the job and they had no one to replace me. Plus I proved to them, through income stats, that I made them money.)
When I was rejected over 500 times by agents/publishers/editors who told me my work wasn’t good enough for them, or that it didn’t fit the kind of books they wanted or needed. That my words wouldn’t sell and just weren’t…marketable.
And still, I rose by winning contest after contest and garnering a reader following.
From every soul-killing, tormented, and tortured event in my life, where I was kicked down, mortified and made to feel less than, I rose.
Why?
Why was I able to do this, to feel this powerful sense of self when I should have cowered in a corner and faded away into an emotional dustbunny?
When I should have been defeated, dejected, and despondent?
When I should have given up, given in, and let gloom invade my soul?
The answer lies in my DNA.
I’m a woman.
When we fall, we get up.
When we are punched down, we lift and strike back.
When we are made to feel less than, we prove we are more than enough.
Because we rise; we always rise.
Like air, we rise.
And always will…
