To The Pacesetters and Ceiling-breakers
March is a special month.
It is the birth month of my wife and also the month to celebrate women worldwide. The towering figure of what a woman is to me, is my mum. She is the epitome of resilience and resourcefulness (both are R words, the pun is intended🤣). And those learned traits, I got from her.
As a child, when I felt something was hard and I was about to quit, she would always ring it into my ears “When did a lion birth a goat?”. Though it sounded funny, but it was a rallying cry to go out there and face whatsoever was out there.
This reminds me about what General Maximus said in the movie: “The Gladiator”. The movie is about a general who was captured and sold as a slave. He was then brought to Rome to fight as a gladiator, to entertain the crowd and he emperor. He was so good at fighting that the mob sided with him and at some point he disobeyed the king. As the movie progresses, we saw how Maximus’ resilience, resourcefulness and courage made him stand up to the king and make demands of how the nations should be run.
In one of those fights, where they did not know what to expect. The emperor practically brought lions to fight the gladiators. Just before that happened, Maximus made a short speech that ended with these words “whatever comes out of these gates, we’ve got a better chance of survival if we work together”.
Again this sounded like my mum’s advise; to go out there and fight whatsoever was infront of you. Be brave enough to take on the obstacles. With bravery comes other things — strategy, clarity and resources. Courage and bravery are the first steps. Without it, execution will not happen.
To all the women out there fighting odds above their paygrade and winning against all odds, my salute is to you. Thank you for all you do. Thank you for your bravery and courage. It has broken ceilings and paved the way for others to tread. Keep on keeping on….
