There are people all over the world that change your life everyday. People that help you be a better person like your mom or dad, older siblings or younger siblings, maybe even a friend. There are people in this world that fight for what they believe in and make a change, not just for themselves but for others.
Since this week on March 8th we are celebrating International Women's Day and there are soooooo many inspirational, powerful women out there, that I could list, I wanted to share my top three women, I get the most inspiration from.
The first one that I want to talk about, is my mom. She inspires me to be a better person everyday. She is always there for me and she inspires me to do good things for me and others. My mom understands me the way others can’t, even when I am having a really bad day.
She always puts others before herself and does whatever in her power to make the world a better place. I love her strength, how much she cares about equality, human rights, racism, youth empowerment, politics and kindness.
The next young and super cool woman I find inspiring is Hannah Alper. Hannah's book "Momentus Small Acts, Big Change" was my first real book that I fully read from start to finish all by myself. For those of you who don't know, finishing that book was a huge deal for me because of my Learning Disability. I had never been able to stick through an entire book before. I had just been diagnosed with my Learning Disability and I was very insecure and just didn't have the patience to finish a book. I think what kept me reading "Momentus" was the sense I got from Hannah, that she really believes, that anyone no matter your age, gender, disability or issue can make a difference in this world. She wrote about some of her role models and makes suggestions of how you can make a difference. In her book she has a formula: Issue + Gift= Change
Basically you think about an issue you are most passionate about like homelessness or Mental Health and use your gift/talent to make the change you want to see. Hannah interviewed really cool, inspiring change makers for her book, which gave me so many ideas of what I could do to make a difference. There were so many things that I learned from reading Momentus. She tells you that there is no excuse to not get involved and to take action, if you want to see a change. Hannah is super inspiring, smart and so down to earth. She surprised me and the Care Gift Elves last year by stopping by while we were making Kindness Rocks. Hannah is probably the nicest celebrity ever! She interviewed people like Malala, is a spokes person for the ME to WE organization, an activist, change maker, kindness ambassador, author, motivational speaker... did I mention inspiring and suuuper nice?
The third and final woman I want to tell you about is Dr. Maya Angelou. She is inspiring to MANY people all over the world I am sure. She was ready to do whatever she believed in, no matter how bumpy the road got. She believed that anyone can do anything they set their mind to. Dr.Maya Angelou did many things in her lifetime. She was an activist, a poet, wrote books, sang and danced. She received lots of awards and titles. What I think is super cool is that she even worked with Martin Luther King Jr and Malcolm X. Even though Dr. Maya Angelou had some hard times in her childhood and life, she never gave up on herself, her dreams and on people. Her strength and kindness inspire me so much every day.
My favourite quote about kindness is from her: "Be a rainbow in someone else's cloud."
The other quote I think is powerful and inspires me especially during bad days is:
On International Women's Day, I want to thank all the inspirational and strong female role models we have, for all the hard work, for the sacrifices, for caring and for creating a pathway for us younger generations to have a better future, BUT I also want to say thank you to all those silent female heroes out there. As Dr. Maya Angelou said: "You alone, are enough." Don't forget that. Believe in yourself!
I want you to take a minute and think about who inspires you. Don't forget to smile at someone today and be a rainbow in someone else's cloud. Happy International Women's Day!
-Angelina aka Cocoa