Let me start by wishing all the women around the world a Happy International Women's Day! I hope you will feel extra loved today, and continue to do so for the rest of the days to come. Much hugs and love from my side!! <3
March 8th, International Women's Day
My boyfriend just send me a text wishing me a happy women's day, very thoughtful, as always. If he wouldn't have sent that text I wouldn't even have known about it, haha. I like the fact that he's so thoughtful, it's appreciated that he thinks of sending a text when he finds out (probably at work) that it's international women's day today. Only 30 minutes earlier he wrote me something else though, without knowing about this international women's day. What he wrote then meant much more to me than following the crowd on days like this that are mainly good for people in the retail business. So what did he send me?
Out of the blue he told me that he's proud of me, proud of the things I do and proud of who I am. He caught me by surprise here, and I assume he was rethinking yesterday evening where he met some new people that clearly gave him a good positive energy boost, who were curious about our daughter and me. So he showed some pictures and this probably came to mind this morning. These messages out of nowhere make me smile, and feel happy that I have a partner that really appreciates what I do and also tries to get the best out of me.
That's actually what I want to talk about in this article, the importance of being supported every single day of the year, not only today because you're supposed to do so according to the mainstream. Every person has skills, some more than others, but in every person hides a passion, a desire, and when your loved ones support you on your path of discovery what makes you really happy, you can accomplish anything you want.
Set me free so I can explore the world and be whatever I want to be
Having that support of a partner hasn't always been the case here, I've been told for a long time that I couldn't do certain things and that I should just play by the system. And that I should even use or abuse the system, I know that some people (not talking about those that are limited to work, but those that are abusing the system) are happy to do nothing and get a certain amount of money monthly with little effort, but that's just not me. I know now that I have plenty of skills and passions, and that I flourish best when I'm set free to find my own path. I'm actually a free spirit, and I'm always interesting in learning new things. I'm actually still learning new things about myself daily, and learning new things every day about all kinds of things. Why? Because I open my eyes, and actually see what's happening around me, I don't close my eyes, but absorb what's going on, this results in my mind being opened for new things and new information. It's easy to close your eyes for what's around you, try to enjoy the little things, like watching the stars in the sky when it's a clear night, or sit in a parc enjoying all the flowers when spring kicks in. Just hearing the water smash against the rocks at sea without even going in the water can bring such an intense feeling of inner peace. I love it.
A different mindset
If I'm stuck in a system of rules and get bored because I'm the type of person that needs to be challenged and not have a boring routine 5 days a week, I will be very unhappy. And I'm also that type of person that can't just put on a smile to act like everything is fine, keep on working in that routine for months to come until another opportunity comes on my path. That's not me, and many people have told me in the past that I should not act the way I did (by quitting a job where I was very unhappy, and I couldn't take it anymore is an example) because they have a totally different mindset. And I have no problem with that, it's fine that you act the way you do, and if that makes you happy, I'm happy for you, but I wish that some more people would also be open to see that people like me can achieve anything they want when they're driven by passion, but are being held back tremendously by so many factors. Which is, in my opinion, such a shame!
Letting go also means you are opened to new experiences
I've learned since we left Holland that there are plenty of people with the same mindset, but it almost looks like most of them are the people that left their country for some reason. I'm not saying that nobody in my home country has the same mindset, not at all, but that it's more likely to meet those people with the same mindset when you have experienced that it's not that big of a deal to leave your country and start over somewhere else. Emigrating always seemed like such a big deal to me when I watched people do it on tv, but now I feel it's actually not (or doesn't have to be) as you can take what's important only, and gives an enormous feeling of freedom to not move your furniture and not so important belongings. And while I do love to collect things that bring up memories, I've learned that it's good to let go of things, and that you can overcome everything if you are with your loved ones.
The power lies within myself
Although it helps so much to have support from your partner of other loved ones, I also know that the power lies within myself to accomplish anything I want. I do love the fact that my partner is constantly reminding me of what's there inside of me, the skills I have and that he knows (not hopes, but actually is convinced) that everything I want to accomplish will be facts one day. It took me some time to believe in myself like he believes in me, but on days like this, I feel so blessed that he's my partner in crime (lol) and that he will support me in whatever I want to do. He didn't even think twice when I told him I felt that the only good option was leaving Holland a few years ago. That's quite a big deal, but he trusts me 100% when I say that my gut feeling is telling me something. For years he believed in me more than I ever did in myself, I love him for that. And I'm glad that he was persistent all the time that I doubted about my own capabilities, because it's been a rocky road too many times.
When love feels right, the rest doesn't matter
It's like this image above, when you feel that you're with the right person, that you can trust 200%, love is right. And all the problems that you come across aren't important, love will overcome it all. I think that we are the perfect example for that, we've been at rock bottom and have faced challenges many people would consider to be the end of the world, love overcame all of this. Even though it doesn't mean that justice was done in cases where it seemed the end of the world for me personally, love gave me the power to go on and not give up. There is too much in this world that is so beautiful and I still have so much to give and share with the world, I must stay focussed on the positive things life has to offer. And I wish that every person reading this has someone that is their rock, the person believing they can accomplish anything in the world. Not only today when it's international women's day, but every day of the year. Tell that person that you believe in them, don't keep it to yourself, share it, you will make a difference by sharing, trust me!
~Much love, Anouk