Malala Yousufai, Greta Thunberg, Sarojini Naidu, Kamala Harris, Adele, Serena Williams, Lizzie Velasquez, Mary Kom, Jacinda Arden, Michelle Obama, Kalpana Chawla.

History is testimony to the fact that women have questioned the norm, broken out of shackles and shattered myths in society. And many continue to do so. A quick Google search would tell you their stories- the facts, the compelling situation, the actions of the people in them and their unrelated journeys. But when we look close enough, we might just find ourselves a pattern.  

What can it be? One may wish to wonder. As women, when we read stories of bravery, leadership or resilience- we appreciate and, in some cases, even empathize with what a person has achieved among the given circumstances. We then reflect on them with our own experiences to find possible connections. We self-reflect or take it to a partner, friend or a colleague to discuss it with. We might reshare, add it in our social media pages- a sincere representation of our support or connection to the person, their journey and their acts of courage and resolute.  

Let’s hold onto that for a bit.  

As women, we face challenges all throughout our lives. Some of us possibly face one every day. Our challenges can be of a different intensity, proportion or magnitude. However, we often tend to forget that what makes it a challenge in the first place is that it’s unique to you. You have the data. The thoughts, the questions, the feelings and of course the facts of the challenge- belong to you. These challenges then push us to find our sources of strength.