Do you know that the civil rights movement was sparked by a lady?
We’ve all heard of Martin Luther King Jr and his famous speech, “I have a dream.” Fewer of us may have heard of the lady who sparked the civil rights movement, Rosa Parks. She was commonly called “the first lady of civil rights” and “the mother of the freedom movement”. She left a legacy and changed history.
She was 42 years old, had a job as a seamstress and was commuting home on 1 December 1955. She sat in the zone reserved for the black people, but as the bus got crowded the driver asked everyone to move back for the whites. She sat still – that caused her to be thrown into jail – for a day.
It also sparked the African American community to unite days later. Within a year, on 13 November 1956, the Supreme Court removed segregation on public transportation. A quiet lady, she changed history without uttering a word, by following her heart and stepping into her destiny.
I tried to put myself in her shoes and felt the tension. What she did could cause her to lose everything! But her bravery caused her to create a legacy.
Why did she do that?
I think what she said left some clues.
“I will no longer act on the outside in a way that contradicts the truth that I hold deeply inside. I will no longer act as if I were less than the whole person I know myself inwardly to be.” Rosa Parks. She continued, “I believe we are here on planet Earth to live, grow up and do what we can to make this world a better place for all people to enjoy freedom”
I believe she found clarity of who she is and decided to stand up to what is right. Clarity of who we are can sometimes release us into our destinies – sometimes at a temporal price, but that could change our lifetime!!
Her being jailed was very temporary, compared to the freedom she experienced after. Perhaps you are going through a transition. A transition where sometimes you feel trapped in. Can I encourage you to look within and fight for what is right for you, even if it means temporal transition pain? Know that it is only temporary.
Many people probably felt the same way as her, but she was the first one to stand up. Because of that, she created a spark that gave many others courage to unite. May you find the courage to listen to your heart, that will lead to your destiny, to be who you are born to be.
How did she overcome the fear to do that?
She also added to make a decision to stand up for yourself, to be who God has called you to be. She added “I have learned over the years that when one’s mind is made up, this diminishes fear; knowing what must be done does away with fear.”
Decision dispels fear!
You are ONE DECISION away from your courage, from your destiny.
If you want change in your life, remember what Rosa said “to bring about change, you must not be afraid to take the first step. We will fail when we fail to try.”
Make that decision today, take that first step to be who God has called you to be, and then SHINE UNAPOLOGETICALLY.
I believe in you.
Love,
Ruth Saw
Note: Decide today to break your limiting beliefs and step into all that you can be, join me in this group live online workshop on 2 & 5 December 2020.
Free yourself at https://bit.ly/breakfreeDec20
Believe in yourself, invest in your future. Free yourself at https://bit.ly/breakfreeDec20
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