What is the true heart of a woman?

I pondered on this even as I was typing in the title of this article.

Many would say a woman’s heart is tender, romantic, loving, and yes a woman can be and often is all of these things. But how many would say a woman’s heart is strong. It is an aspect of women that is often overlooked, and yet strength is in her very essence. There is absolutely no reasonable explanation as to why women are called the weaker sex. Women learn early in life to do many things at one time. They are like hummingbirds: multifaceted able to make 180° degree turns in any given moment. They run a home cooking, cleaning, shopping, gardening, and taking primary care of the children, and usually it is the woman who plans vacations, arranges dinner parties and social activities and keeps track of important dates such as birthdays, anniversaries etc. She may also handle a career or a full time job, as well as all her household activities. It takes strength and endurance to do all a woman has to accomplish in her everyday life. Some of our sisters are stressed under the weight of so many responsibilities.

Others thrive on the diversity and the challenge of it all. We respect a woman for her beauty, her nurturing abilities and of course her cooking skills. But how often is she respected for her strength, tenacity and endurance?

An intelligent woman acknowledges these gifts in herself, and no longer engages in the illusion of woman as weak and fragile. Without strength a woman is an empty vessel, a pale shadow of womanhood. Like the hummingbird who as well as being beautiful is quick, decisive and a true warrior spirit, a woman has many facets. From deep within herself she draws forth all that is needed to sustain herself and all she holds dear. That is why I see the true heart of a woman as strength, balanced with a dash of nurturing, love, humor and compassion.

Stik A Yi