I am a Dragon...

The Dragon Beside Me Challenge

~

I feel like this challenge was made for me. I was born in 1988, I am a Dragon.

This new year has been difficult for me.

I recently broke up a long-term relationship and I’ve learned to lean on others in my life (mostly women) for support, guidance, and care. And what a wonderful support team I have!

~

“It took me quite a long time to develop a voice, and now that I have it, I am not going to be silent.” ― Madeleine Albright

~

Let me tell you about my boss, Dr. Janet Brito! I once told my boss something funny. As a kid, I wanted to be Xena, the Warrior Princess. I wanted to be a fighter that helped others. I explained that this is how I see my boss, a warrior woman, a fighter, and advocate to help others find and discover themselves.

She’s confident, beautiful, brilliant, smart, and an amazing human being. I’m proud to know her and be able to work with her. She’s empathetic, she strong-willed, and she is an inspiration for my journey ahead. She gave me the courage to return to school for a Master of Social Work. She gives me the motivation to believe in myself when others thought I wouldn’t achieve my goals; when I was told, I’d never make it.

To all the wonderful women that I work with, you inspire me to be stronger. You motivate me to become a leader, a spirit among many who can take charge and grow. Women build other women up.

https://sextherapyhawaii.com/about-dr-janet-brito/

~

In my life are wonderful women: Jamie, Lindsey, Mia, Bailey, Rachel, and so many more. I just don’t know that I could name everyone and not forget anyone. When my world was crumbling apart; the walls caving in; and the water smothering me, I had these women to help pull me up from the depths of depression. I had women who love me, inspire me, and who have helped me learn to live again. The women in my life are amazing.

~

Being a woman is about being strong and independent.

Being a woman is about holding and supporting others.

Being a woman is being confident, being a fighter, being passionate, and about being the beautiful spirit that you’ve always been. It’s about remembering who you are and embracing the fierce woman that you are meant to be.

~

Embracing the dragon within,

I will rise,

I will be an inspiration for other women,

For young and old, for the broken, and for the strong and weak.

~

If you don’t feel like you can get help on your own; if you have a chance to be an advocate for others; if you say something and stand up for yourself or for someone else, then you are being a woman who you can be proud to know.

Being a rape survivor, a voice inside of me wants to be able to say that I am woman enough to be an inspiration for other victims of rape and sexual assault. Each day is a struggle and challenge in my life, but each day I wake up, I hold my head up, and I take a step forward.

Once I’ve completed the Master of Social Work program, then I’m going to be that warrior. I’m going to be an advocate for victimized people. It’s not selfish to be proud of myself, as a woman, as a survivor, as someone who will learn to live again. There’s a sense of peace concluding that I will be an inspiration for myself and for others. I am a Dragon.