08/03/2026
I make no apologies that this is the longest post I have ever written. On International Womenâs Day how could I possibly make it shorter, I could write till the cows come home about women & their strength in the face of adversity
(Men your day will come)
To that womanâŚ..
To that woman in the supermarket in front of you thatâs taking ages because sheâs mentally calculating that she has enough money to pay for her familyâs food. Her smile at the cashier forced & stressed. She hopes it will be ok. She doesnât need more deflation today.
To the lady that you stopped to talk to, to pet her dog & her smile warms your heart & your chat nourishes her soul because she is lonely & your hello meant the world to her.
To the lady at the park bench with the tissue that didnât really want to chat because she has lost the love of her life & her grief has swallowed all her words.
To the colleague slamming the water cooler in work who is hiding the fact no one knew she was pregnant and no one knows her loss or the reminder that this workplace is the very place she felt her baby leaving.
To the lady in the changing room being coaxed by the assistant that âyes she should move out of her comfort zone in her choicesâ not knowing that this customer did move out of that âcomfortâ zone when she finally left him!
To the girl in the classroom thatâs staring out the windowâŚ.you wonder are you wasting your teaching skills on her, she wonders will anyone ever like herâŚ.how could they, she doesnât even like herself!
To the lady that canât understand why she feels âdifferentâ, her gut is telling her something needs help, her brain is telling her, you are âjust different, try harderâ. Will anyone ever accept her differences, will she ever accept herself!
To the lady that will spend today in bedâŚthe world feels too big to be part of right now!
To that lady who stole your parking space in her Porsche as you circle in your car on its last legsâŚ.her blank stare annoys you. The car costs her in more ways than oneâŚ..work stress has numbed her so she canât see you or anything beyond that
To the lady in the doctors that wonât stop talking to you because sheâs a chatterbox annoying your peace but inside she must keep goingâŚ.if the mask drops & the anxiety takes over she doesnât know what will happen!
To the lady trying to find a parking space at the breast clinic, really hoping she never does because that will mean going in & facing whatâs in front of her, the âwhat ifâsâ are too big!
To the lady that gave birth & is smiling but silently crying inside because how dare she feel anything else but joy when she has a healthy baby. She will just have to put that birth trauma in a box in the storage room.
To the lady holding the pregnancy test to the light, praying to God there is a positive line, because another negative feels like the end of her world, a lonely world where hope fades each month.
To the mum at the school gate waiting hard on her child that is struggling & no one understands. The loneliness of advocating for them is so heavy she feels like falling over. Her motherly love is the only thing that balances the weight.
To the lady that spends half her time praying he will change & the other half wishing he would disappearâŚ..then the bit in between that wishes she didnât love him despite the bruises & his words, which hurt the most!
To that woman that hates the mirror & who she has become & doesnât know who she wants to beâŚ.with raging hormones & a body & mind that some days are two steps ahead & other days spits spiteful words from two steps behindâŚ.her life has become unpredictable & unforgiving on a rollercoaster she canât get off.
To the lady that lies in bed at night & listens to the wind through the cracks in what was supposed to be her safe placeâŚ.wondering if the roof will make this winter & what the journey ahead of rebuilding her home will do to her future.
To the mermaid that bobs effortlessly between the waves, tasting the salt on her cheeks knowing itâs from the tears that might hide a lot of âstuffâ which she hopes with all her heart doesnât join her back on the shore.
To the woman that feels she canât protect her daughterâs broken heart because her daughter is blind to what heâs putting her through. The need to cradle & protect her is painful beyond words.
To the woman that canât help who she loves despite the gender but itâs too much to follow her heart, the fear is real. âŚ.âcoming outâ is just a dream.
To the lady that is only known now as âoldâ with an empty nest & a body thatâs telling her that it feels her ageâŚ.she feels frightened, of the future but mostly of age being her cage!
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This list is never-ending, and every woman may not realise that her strength is not just in endurance, but in the courage to keep believing in herself.
So many wonderful women turn life challenges into power and every scar into wisdom⌠and they donât even realise it.
And maybe⌠just maybe⌠one of those women is you!!
Happy International Womenâs day today & everyday!
Never forget how great you really are!
Believe!
Much love Tracy đť
Sea Swimming Mental Health
