Woman Hero of Our Times

There is a hero lurking inside you. You know it. You have done amazing things for your family. For yourself. It hasn’t always been easy. And it’s seldom acknowledged by others. But you know it. So, there is a deep satisfaction that flows up from inside and feeds your days that are so full there is barely time to reflect. 

There are days, however, when everything is a blur, and you can’t remember if today is Thursday or Friday. There are days when you go through the motions without thinking, and can hardly remembered if you took the trash out to the street earlier (just checked, yes you did). 

Life is a blur on most days. So many routines. So many things you have to do on remote control. Things that interrupt the flow can be irritating. Unexpected things are an annoyance. Time just   keeps moving inexorably forward – where did the last hour and a half go? Whew. Spaced out for a bit there.

With a family to take care of, a string of errands to run, a bill to put in the mail before it’s too late. That is life. Your life. It is what you signed up for as a mother, a wife, as an adult woman. It’s satisfying to know you are doing so many things for your family they will never be aware of – but you don’t do it for them to know. You do it because it is the broadest expression of your life, your love. It is the honesty of what it means to be “family” person.

You hear others complain that they never get time for themselves (what did they think having kids was all about in the first place?). You see neighbor women who seem so harried by it all. Of course they are, and so are you. It is the inescapable territory of modern life. Despite all the drawbacks, all the very long days, all the too-short nights, you know this is what you signed up for. And you’re glad you did.

You can watch kid cartoons about super heroes. You can slip in some reading about Katniss Everdeen and modern literary woman-heroes. You can do all that and see faint reflections of your life. You can watch Lifetime movies to see women struggling with money and flirtatious daydreams. But these are not real women. You know you are. You are real. A woman that is a daily hero to others, even if they see you as just “mom”, or “wife”, or “daughter.”

You know what you are doing is the most important job in the world. You know you are making a difference in the lives of some important people, the ones who come to dinner when you call them. You know you are having impact in the world when they go out the doors and practice in their own personal way all you have taught them.

This is serious stuff, being a woman. A mother. A wife. A grown daughter. And you know you are doing so many things right, they will overcome the mistakes you occasionally make. You know these things. So it is right that the satisfaction runs deep in you. It is right that you feel how amazing it is that you can do all these things for your family. It is right that you know there really is a hero lurking inside of you. It is right that you know it, too.

So, take the time this minute to reflect.  And be thankful you get to be a woman hero today.