Life experience teaches us a variety of lessons. Often we learn how to find our way by trial and error; both ours and of those around us. We learn how to maximize our strength while managing our weaknesses. For those who have faced trying times, those moments in life when you woke up believing you wouldn’t make it through another day only to realize that somehow, from somewhere you found the strength to battle your fear, situation or heartache; you learned how to survive and conquer.

Life teaches us to be strong and resilient; it tells us that whether we like it or not we must learn how to stand firmly on both feet. Life blesses us, it chastises us, and with the challenges it throws our way – once we learn how to overcome them – we are kept grounded. Life however, doesn’t cover all tracks when it comes to our personal development. There have been times when situations have exposed us to the ugly side of people. We have made ourselves vulnerable to those around us and they have used the opportunity (sometimes without knowing any better) to almost destroy our well-being and peace of mind. It is easy to say that we should be careful who we trust, but we as humans will make mistakes no matter how astute we are, and these mistakes come with bad judgment at times.

This bad judgment can lead to a lot of damage, if we do not actually take the time to teach ourselves how to recover and heal. This process of safeguarding, recovering and healing is what I call protecting our hearts. When we start to focus on making it a priority, we begin to realise that we must keep our hearts safe at all times.

So many women go through life having experienced trauma without taking the necessary time to heal.

When was the last time you stopped to search your heart for …

• bitterness of past events,
• feelings of inadequacy due to the words of others;
• traces of insecurity?

When was the last time you took a step back from the hustle and bustle to make sure you were not accumulating unnecessary baggage?

Life will make sure you are kept occupied, but it will not ask you to discern whether or not the current merry-go-round is making or breaking you. You must make the conscious effort to  find your quiet moment. To take a step back and look at yourself, assess what is really happening inside you and around you. You must find the time to meditate and reflect, stand in front of the mirror and ask yourself, ‘AM I DOING OKAY?’

When was the last time you spoke up when a situation just didn’t sit well with you?

What steps are you taking to become the better individual you’ve always wanted to become?

The woman who cannot stand by injustice, takes the time to let go of the pain from the past, releases any baggage building up, forgives more, loves more and speaks positivity into her life and the lives of those around her. The Bible says that out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks, and this have been proven time and time again.

A bad deed cannot yield a good harvest. We must strive to allow only the good to reside in us. Women are enhancers, reflectors and incubators. If we allow poison to reside inside our hearts, we will incubate, reflect, enhance and then release what is poisonous to those around us. We can only protect and cherish when we take the time to continuously search and safe guard our hearts from internalising any negativity caused by personal mistakes and callous decisions of others. We should strive to protect the most important essence we own, to impact the lives of those surrounding us, especially if we want to do so positively:

Life is a propeller and we are the wind. 

What energy are we using to sail?

Who will gain from the trail we leave behind?

Think about it.