Cheers to the Women of Louisville

This post is dedicated to women. From precious little girls to sweet older grandmas, the women I met in Louisville stirred my heart for greatness.

And just when you think it can’t get better, we met a woman who overcame cancer 3 times between the ages of 21 to 26. Um what?! Yes.

After being told that she would be on chemo the rest of her life, she took a crazy leap of faith and denied the cancer treatment realizing that she wanted to enjoy whatever unknown amount of life she had left.

She is now 37 and has been cancer free for 10 years. Talk about a champion.

And then Surekha walked up. She was a beautiful Indian woman. When she said she was from Kolkata, my heart melted. (If you know me well enough, you know I LOVE India…especially Kolkata!) She founded an organization teaching refugee women how to make jewelry to sell. She is a champion for women, for immigrants and for refugees. One line from her continues to stick with me…

“Chase meaning in your life.”

And finally a 16-year-old girl walked up. Not going to lie, my first thought was “What do you have to share when your 16? Is this girl really going to have a moment?”

Oh how I was wrong! Sarah went on to completely blow me away! She struggled with serious depression throughout 8th grade, tried to commit suicide, which landed her in the hospital, decided she was going to beat her sickness and discovered the healing power of yoga.

What a story!

“People need to stop looking outside themselves to find peace. Instead, look on the inside and learn how to find inner peace no matter the circumstances.”

We also met an woman from Africa that sells cookies out of a basket on top of her head, a girl who overcame an eating disorder and now has a famous blog about baking, and a sweet heart 5-year-old who stole my heart and let me practice Spanish with her.

Cheers to the women of Louisville.

You sure do inspire!