Does your life hold a lesson for someone else?

by Mallika Bhatia

This month's The Hope Tribe feature isn't a story like the other months. It is an appeal, it is a request, it is a command and a tribute. 

For what you may be wondering, let me tell you. 

It is an appeal for you to value your journey, to see the long way you have come and the obstacles you have overcome to make it here. It is an appeal to not undermine your own power and the lessons that you have learnt along your way. Your lessons might help make someone else's journey a bit easier. 

It is a request to see the value in the person you have become, focus on the ways you have changed through the years. Some changes may be subtle, while a few others may be too strong for those around you to handle, but these are the changes that make you who you are. Acknowledge them and be proud of who you have become. 

It is a command to not stop here. If you think overcoming obstacles was all that your struggles meant, think again!! There are so many others going through something similar and they need the guidance and support that you may not have received. You may feel that your journey is unique to you, it is. Yet, our struggles are universal. They are the thread that eventually bind the humankind together. Imagine what it would have felt, just knowing that there are others in similar circumstances as you. Think of how alone you had felt while going through your pain. This is your opportunity to make someone else know that they are not alone in their pain and struggles. There is actual emotional safety in numbers. 

All I am asking you to do it share. Tell me your story and I will share it with others. Write it yourself if you like, give it your name or do it anonymously. Do it anyway you like, what is important is that your story reaches others, for women to know that they are not alone. There is support, there is help and there are others who have come out of their struggles and made it. Show others the light at the end of the tunnel. Like Mick Kremlin said, ' You have not come this far, to only come this far.' 

This piece is also a tribute to all the heroes who shared their stories with us in our first year. I would personally like to thank you for trusting The Hope Tribe as a platform to share your fears, weaknesses, joys and successes. You have made The Hope Tribe possible. My hero, you have helped me achieve my dream of creating platform for awareness and support that is free of cost and available to anyone who is willing to benefit from it. Thank you for trusting yourself and believing that your story is worth sharing. Some of you did need a little convincing but I am so glad you let go off your hesitation and decided to share your life with us anyway. 

This year end feature is also to thank our subscribers and readers. Thank you for reading, sharing and recommending The Hope Tribe to everyone. I truly hope you would continue to do so and help the world become a little bit more compassionate, hopeful and loving. 

So lovely people, trust that your stories are worth sharing, continue to support us and have a superb year ahead full of hope and love. 

Hugs,

Mallika Bhatia, Founder, The Hope Tribe.