Ellen Johnson Sirleaf
With three women receiving a Nobel Peace Prize, I just had to find out more about what they have done to warrant such an honor. (Somehow the number three is absolutely perfect, because it is a number that honors the Sacred Feminine, as a woman’s womb has a somewhat triangular shape.) So who are these women?
Let’s find out about Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, shall we?
Here’s a little something about her from the government of Liberia:
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf is the 24th President of Liberia and the first elected female Head of State in Africa. Throughout her career she has demonstrated passionate commitment to hard work, integrity and good governance, advocating for the rights of women and the importance of education to provide a better future for her country and its people.
Ms. Johnson Sirleaf has a notable career, far better explained than I can here, in the biography available at: http://www.emansion.gov.lr/content.php?sub=President%27s%20Biography&related=The%20President
What struck me is her commitment to her country and the end of corruption in her homeland, even after needing to leave her country twice due to political unrest, including a 1980 coup d’etat. Creating change in the middle of civil and even moral unrest is no small matter.
And she has created change in no small way. She has taken her country from a national budget of $80 million to $350 million. Johnson Sirleaf has acquired $5 million in international contributions, which she has used to build school, clinics and markets, as well as provide scholarships so that her people’s skills and abilities will continue to grow.
She has attracted international investment for the creation of jobs and she has been at the forefront of women’s issues regarding peace and leadership, serving on multiple advisory boards and committees throughout the world. To top it all off, as we women are prone to include in our life-resumes, she is a proud mother of four children and eleven grandchildren.
Now, are you reading this thinking, Wow, she is someone really special! I could never do that?
Of course you couldn’t. This is her life. This is what she came here to do.
As my friend Reverend Ariann likes to say, We each pack our spiritual bags with what we need to live this life on earth. We accumulate more once we get here, but we choose carefully what skills and talents we will bring with us to get started.
You packed your own bag with spiritual, physical, and mental gifts that are meant to be used in the fulfillment of your purpose, whether you are here to serve millions or a handful of very special people.
Some of us seem to know our purpose as soon as leave high school. Perhaps that was the case with Johnson Sirleaf, since she began her career and has consistently remained in the financial/political/service arenas for forty years.
Some of us discover our purpose over time, as it presents itself over and over again, until we finally realize it is not a purpose one might conceive without life experience. That was the case with me. I had no idea that dedication to the Sacred Feminine and restoring balance in our spiritual percept about the Divine Masculine and Feminine was going to be my reason for existing here on earth during this lifetime.
Others awaken to it in a flash of realization, practically in the moment it is happening. As a Native elder once showed me, some of us come here to fulfill one moment in time, and we may not recognize it until it occurs.
Still others of us have a sense about their sacred work, but truly discover their purpose through mystical exploration, such as in meditation, ceremonies and quests, where we finally become still enough and surrender completely so that awareness to come through.
When someone discovers their purpose and chooses to fulfill it, we can be inspired by their choice to surrender and commit to their greatest ability to serve. Ellen Johnson Sirleaf is a woman to celebrate. We can all draw inspiration from her amazing dedication to a better and peaceful world.
If you would like to congratulate Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and the other beautiful Nobel Laureates, you can do so at: http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/2011/
