Close your eyes for a moment.
Think back not to a headline, not to a famous face on a magazine cover — but to a woman in your own life. A mother, a teacher, a mentor, a friend, a stranger who said exactly the right thing at exactly the right time. A woman who, perhaps without even knowing it, changed the entire trajectory of who you are.
Can you see her?
As International Women’s Day approaches, we at Passion & Purpose Retreat want to invite you into something deeper than celebration. We want to invite you into reflection. Because the women who change our lives rarely do so on a world stage. They do it in quiet rooms, with steady hands and unwavering belief in us, often long before we believed in ourselves.
Why Reflection Matters — Especially for Women
We live in a world that is always rushing forward. There is always a next goal, a next milestone, a next version of ourselves to become. But in that constant forward motion, we often leave behind something precious, the acknowledgement of how we got here, and who helped us get here.
Research consistently shows that practising gratitude rewires our brains for greater resilience, connection, and joy. But gratitude isn’t just about counting blessings in the abstract; it’s most powerful when it is specific, personal, and embodied.
Thinking about the woman who changed your life is one of the most grounding acts of reflection you can do because it connects you to your own story in a way that abstract affirmations simply cannot.
The Women Who Shape Us: More Than We Know
She might be obvious a mother who sacrificed quietly so you could dream loudly. Or she might surprise you when you truly sit with the question.
Maybe she is:
- The teacher who told you your writing had something worth saying — when you were 14 and didn’t believe it yourself.
- The colleague who pulled you aside and said, “You should be in that room. Go apply.”
- The woman who showed up at your lowest point — not with advice, but simply with presence.
- The grandmother whose quiet strength you only fully understood once she was gone.
- The friend who held the mirror up and loved you through what you saw.
- The stranger at a retreat — perhaps someone just like you — who said the words that unlocked something inside you.
Every one of these women deserves to be named. Remembered. Honoured.
A Reflection Practice: Find Her Name
At Passion & Purpose Retreat, we believe that healing and growth begin not with grand revelations, but with small, honest moments of truth. Here is a practice we invite you to try — alone, or with women you trust.
Your Reflection Guide:
1. Find stillness. Set aside 15 minutes. No phone. Make tea if that helps. Light a candle. Create a small pocket of space just for this.
2. Ask the question. “Who is the woman who changed my life?” Don’t force an answer. Let it rise.
3. Write her name. Journal freely. Who comes to mind? What did she do? What did she say? How did she make you feel seen?
4. Name the gift. What specifically did she give you — confidence, permission, love, a different perspective? Be as precise as you can.
5. Feel the gratitude. Don’t rush past this. Let yourself feel it — the warmth, the weight of it. Gratitude is not intellectual. It lives in the body.
6. Consider telling her. If she is still in your life, consider sharing this with her. You may give her one of the greatest gifts she has ever received.
Gratitude Is a Form of Power
There is a quiet revolution in a woman who fully owns her story — including the chapters written in partnership with other women. When we acknowledge the women who shaped us, we don’t diminish our own achievements. We deepen them.
We say: I did not rise alone. And that is not a weakness — that is a testament to the extraordinary web of women who hold this world together.
This International Women’s Day, let gratitude be your act of resistance against a culture that tells women to compete. Let reflection be your act of resistance against a culture that only values what is next.
From Reflection to Connection
There is something profound that happens when women gather and share these stories with one another. The isolation lifts. We realise that the woman sitting across from us has also been carried by invisible hands, also been changed by a quiet word spoken at the right moment.
This is precisely what we create space for at Passion & Purpose Retreat not just workshops and wellness, but the kind of deep, honest, transformative connection that reminds you of who you are, where you came from, and who you are still becoming.
Because you, too, are becoming the woman who will change someone else’s life.
Join Us This International Women’s Day
This Women’s Day, give yourself the gift of reflection, community, and transformation. Come as you are. Leave knowing yourself and the women around you more deeply.
Contact us on 0535742628 to register and book yor spot. Visit Us to Learn More
With love and intention, The Passion & Purpose Retreat Team
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