Stories of Hope

The Courage to Make a Difference

The Courage to Make a Difference

It’s the last day of March and our final Women’s History Month blog post honors Oprah Winfrey. As a television/film host and producer, writer, editor, actress, and philanthropist, Oprah has done it all—she’s even been nominated to replace President Andrew Jackson on the American $20 bill! However, it’s Oprah’s strong and generous spirit, even more than her resume, which inspires us. We love this advice from her:

“You get in life what you have the courage to ask for.”

It might seem easy for someone as successful as Oprah to ask for opportunities. However, it’s important to remember that she overcame a very difficult childhood filled with abuse.  She believes her turning point came when she narrowly missed being placed in a juvenile detention center, giving her a second chance to make a positive impact on the world. She leveraged that fresh start into a courageous quest to ‘do better’—a mission she fulfills in part through her charitable foundation, which provides educational access to disadvantaged girls and women.

Like Oprah, we can courageously ask, how can we do better? One of the reasons NBCF is passionate about providing access to free breast cancer screenings for women in need is that we feel a lack of economic resources should not be the barrier to a woman’s hope for surviving breast cancer. It is our goal that every woman be able to direct her courage into seeking information, screenings and care, rather than worrying over how she’ll pay for those things. Unfortunately, these barriers remain very real for women in need; please consider joining us in Helping Women Now.

We hope you’ve enjoyed these inspiring women’s stories. If you missed our recent Women’s History Month posts about Joan Lunden, Jackie Joyner-Kersee, Marie Curie or Sheryl Sandberg, we encourage you to check them out. Each of us can make history with our talents and experiences—including the difficult ones—when we look for ways to help others. Women’s History Month is just one month, but women are inspiring others to hope every day of the year.  We’re honored to share in your victories and want to hear about them on our Facebook, Twitter and Instagram channels!

Sources:
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2015/03/23/new-female-20-dollar-bill-designs/25141041/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrnxCahBJTM
http://www.owla.co.za/

Publish Date: March 31, 2015

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