I was honoured to be chosen as one of the keynote speakers at the annual Women of Excellence Awards in Newmarket on March 9th, 2022. My mandate was to talk about the journey that brought me here and, writing it, made me realize that it has primarily been a journey of self-discovery.
Through a series of circumstances, losses, and life-changing events, I find myself here, now. None of this was pre-planned, I just responded the best I could as my life progressed. I have made many mistakes along the way, some large and some small, and I wanted to share the message that it is okay not to know what is coming next. It is also okay to make mistakes because, through them, we learn what is helpful and what is not. We also learn who and what matters, and who/what does not.
I hoped that the people who heard my speech would leave with something worth thinking about. I hoped it might help them to find the courage to make a change they had perhaps been considering. I wanted to encourage them to believe that it is never too late to follow a dream, or even to create a new dream.
“You don’t have to be able to see the whole staircase to take the first step.” – Martin Luther King Jr.
