A resilient woman - The first face comes to my mind.

We all have struggles, they look different and feel very different. But we are in some kind of hardship. But some events make some of us different, more resilient than others for sure.

When I was reading some of this contest's posts, some faces were automatically popping into my head. I have seen them go through a lot but they are still standing strong. They are the everyday women, who live around us and their life struggle teaches us many many things.

The first person that came to my mind is my Aunt!

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Let me briefly tell you her story.

She fall in love at 22 and got married at 24 without her parent's consent. No one was happy about her choice but gradually they became part of our family. Soon, after their marriage; my uncle started to abuse her mentally. In probably two years, it turns into physical abuse. I was just around 5 or 6 maybe back then. But I can vividly remember some of the violent events.

People told her to have a baby so that my uncle can feel the bond with the family. How ridiculous. Then the big drama started. He never wanted a child with her. Long story short, after begging for 9 years, she finally managed to get pregnant with his child.

After my cousin was born, my uncle started to force my aunt to work more so she can provide for his family. She used to be a business owner from the very beginning of her career life. My uncle used to help in her business. They had a 70-30% share. Even after having a 70% share, she was the victim here.

Not only my uncle used to abuse my aunt but he used to manipulate their daughter against her mom. How pathetic a human begin he was. I have seen so many things in their marriage! My aunt never had any off days, and never had the chance to spend much time with her daughter. We never got the opportunity to freely talk with my cousin because of his father's restrictions. He used to fear that we will tell her the truth, how he manipulates and abused her mom.

He died 3 years ago from a heart attack and my aunt for out of prison!

Literally. Now we see a different human in her. She is happier than before. My cousin used to be very anxious and not loving towards her mom. But as she is grown, will be 18 next year. She now understands a lot. And in the last 3 years after doing much family counseling, she is now a very understanding young girl.

My aunt is running her huge clothing and beauty product business all on her own with the help of her daughter. Their bonding is better than ever.

I have seen her cry, I have seen her struggle, I have seen her accept every abuse. Probably she was not strong enough to fight back. But she was resilient. She didn't want to lose the family and accepted everything for the sake of her child.

I used to blame her a lot for all the abuse she was accepting and not taking any action. But now when I look back and see her life at a glance, I can safely say that; all this made her so strong that she is now enough for her, for her daughter. She became financially more stable than before, and she and my cousin is doing great now.

At the end of the day, this happiness matters most. Her life probably changed because of the sudden incident. But I believe, it was her inner power that lead her to reach where she is now. Otherwise, she would be completely drawn because she didn't know much about accounting and running a business. She was like low-cost labor in her own business.

Life sure sometimes gives us a second chance. If we are powerful enough we can grab.

Have a good day, everyone.