Strong women

So I have been thinking about the strong women who influence me in my life. I will be going to hear and see Oprah on Wednesday night, a great women who helped shape the last 20 years of my life with her talk show.  Oprah had a large platform to influence other but many of us have small ones and our influence is less celebrated but equally important.

I want to celebrate my friend Josee who wrote a heartfelt letter to Lululemon about their lack of clothing for real women.  It is ironic that an athletic clothing company has small sizes only and no clothes for real women with curves and junk in their trunk.  I know how I felt not being to to fit into their clothes, I now do but just.  Thank you for having the courage to speak your mind and take a stand for real women everywhere. 

Here is a link to her letter on Facebook.

Dear Lululemon

I want to celebrate my friend Barb who is training for her first marathon.  Training for a marathon is hard enough but doing it while working a full time job and having a family is extra tough.  I look forward to celebrating your success with M&M's on the train ride home from Toronto on may 5th.  You are showing me that anything is possible and I look forward to running my first marathon with you next January. 

I am thinking about the strong women I connect with in a Facebook group I am part of.  We all struggle with our body, we have fitness goals and challenges.  When we have a bad day, we have people who help lift us up and tell us it's OK.  Twice a week we celebrate our successes and celebrate others, it's the favorite part of my day.

Mostly today I am thinking of my friend Shauna.  About 6 years ago, Shauna asked her dermatologist to remove a small mole on her hip that bothered her when she wore her bikini.  Shauna started running and worked hard to get into shape and wanted to feel better in her bathing suit. It turned out Shauna had stage 4 skin cancer and her vanity had in fact saved her life.  She fought hard and is now cancer free, changed her life and eventually started running again.  This year she turned 40 and qualified to run the Boston Marathon next Monday.  However the run goes, it is her victory run, a victory over Cancer, a celebration of life and I will be celebrating with her that day.

We all have strong women who influence us in big and small ways.  Take time to thank them and tell them they are making a difference in your life.