This Little Girl Is Me

This little girl is me.

She had big ideas and huge dreams. She wanted to smash all the stereotypes and really did start making waves by being one of the first girls to join the traditionally all-male "Air Training Corps". She wanted to be a pilot in the RAF. She wanted to be a successful athlete.

Over time, her confidence was chipped away because people didn't believe in her. They didn't give her the encouragement she needed. They laughed at her for lots of reasons, including some that she had no control over; changes couldn't be made.

But life has a way of presenting a path that provides challenges to mould a person you never thought you could be. There are opportunities that you would never have considered. Success cannot be defined by one action or outcome - it is a collaboration of many events.

And that is where I am at right now.

I am not where I expected to be at almost 50 years old. I didn't expect a car accident to stop my promising athletics career when I was 16. I didn't expect my RAF medical to turn out the way it did. I didn't expect to find out I was pregnant at 18 years old. I didn't expect to spend my what I thought should have been an important time in my career raising children and supporting someone through intense mental health issues. I didn't expect to be able to restart my career when I was was 35. I didn't expect to be a grandmother when I was 36. I didn't expect to have lost both my parents by the time I was 49. I didn't expect there to be opportunities to still change who I am at this stage of my life.

Next year this little girl is 50 years old and she still doesn't know what's around the corner but she's excited to find out.



Read more #ThisLittleGirlIsMe stories on Instagram which is a campaign created by Miriam Gonzalez Durantez