“ A new journey to be started. A new promise to be fulfilled. A new page to be written. Go forth unto this waiting world with pen in hand, all you young scribes, the open book awaits. Be creative. Be adventurous. Be original. And above all else, be young. For youth is your greatest weapon, your greatest tool. Use it wisely.” – Wonder Woman
This was my opening quote at the TEDxKidsBC Ted Talks and it would prove to be, a serendipitous coincidence of things to come. Wonder Woman would become a symbol of the evolution of my mother’s annual run. Every year around July 31st I organize a small gathering of committed, passionate people to join me in honoring women everywhere – wonder women – who have endured, who have prevailed, who have overcome great adversity. These are women of resilience.
On July 31st, 2008 my mother, Nora Lynne Donnelley would pass peacefully from a battle that ranged for nearly 20 years. A survivor of domestic violence; she was diagnosed with bi polar disease and battled the villains of substance abuse. A deep, dark path and on this day we lost a great woman to suicide. This year I chose to call #RUN4MOM “Wonder Women” because that is what we are. That is how we will be remembered. The legacy we leave will not include the labels of stigma of a disease.
Tell Your Story
We live in the stories we tell ourselves. Superhero stories speak loudly and boldly to our greatest fears, deepest longings, and highest aspirations. Superheroes are not afraid to be hopeful, not embarrassed to be optimistic, nor are they afraid to go into those dark places, where most fear to go. Yet, they give rise to those human experiences that we all year for – to be everything we can be.
Disease is not an identity. This run symbolizes a call to action to break the silence of stigma and to understand the complex spectrum of mental illness and the effects long-term domestic abuse can have on a person and their family. The more we share, learn, ask questions, offer answers the more we rise above and create our own resiliency. That is what this run symbolizes.
Go Inward
Bestselling author Deepak Chopra along with his son Gotham Chopra delineate the wisdom that is available to us in the words and deeds of today’s superheroes. Moreover, that superhero’s can be our greatest teachers when it comes to igniting our compassion, courage, strength and creativity from within.
“Here are ten principles to observe in your daily life that will also help shape your brain by modifying your perception and your behaviour:
For every challenge, the superhero’s solution is to go inward.
Exercise: When faced with a challenge, do not react. Stop, go within, and ask what your creative opportunity is. Live the question until you move into the answer.
For everything that exists, its opposite also exists.
Exercise: When faced with a crisis, identify the factors or qualities contributing to it. Focus on the opposite.
The superhero’s perception scans the whole range of existence from smallest of the smallest to the biggest of the biggest.
Exercise: Look at every object in its wholeness. Know that it is the whole universe localized.
The superhero is independent of the good and bad opinions of others.
Exercise: Realize that only the ego thinks in terms of superior or inferior. At the level of being, you are above or beneath no one.
The superhero never gives in to self-importance.
Exercise: Do not be offended by people’s behavior.
The superhero takes on the problems of the world.
Exercise: Ask yourself how you can help, how you can serve.
The superhero is always aligned with the evolutionary impulse.
Exercise: In every situation, ask what the greater good is.
The superhero executes action with impeccability, but is detached from the result.
Exercise: Focus on the process, not the outcome.
The superhero is the exquisite combination of dynamic action and stillness of mind.
Exercise: Even in the midst of chaos and turbulence, be an alert witness to your own actions and reactions.
The superhero is the best listener in the world.
Exercise: Listen with your body. Listen with your heart. Listen with your mind. Listen with your soul. Never judge while listening.”
07.26.14
In 5 days join us and choose to #move4good. You can walk, step, run or just move – and contribute to the community of those who are standing up against violence and stigma. All it takes is your will to act.
To find out more please visit www.fitcause.com and join our mission “”Wonder Women RUN4MOM.”
To consider donating please follow this link. All proceeds raised will go towards Battered Women’s Support Services and the STEPS Youth Program of the North Shore CMHA.
To be the change…. Starts here.
“If it means interfering in an ensconced, outdated system, to help just one woman, man or child…I’m willing to accept the consequences.” -Wonder Woman
