More Brilliance from Trisha Sugarek

I sit in my cabin in the woods as I write my message to the world. With only five hundred words to use, I am inspired to send my message to young women.

Growing up in traditionalism as I did, I found my freedom and voice later in life. I discovered that I could be so much more than a wife or mother. I COULD BE ANYTHING I WANTED TO BE.

An old refrain certainly, but it’s old because it’s TRUE. Don’t do it someday, DO IT TODAY!

I started out standing in the second-hand light of a man. [Traditional, remember?] I finally figured out that I couldn’t change, fix, repair or control another human being, as hard as I might try. I learned that the only person I could fix or change was me! And I am grateful every day for that lesson.

I learned that I must never feel responsible or guilty over another human being’s actions. I am not responsible. I can feel sadness and I can try to be there if they reach out for help but I am not responsible for their behavior. Another lesson hard earned.

In the first forty years of my adult life I loved everyone else and forgot all about me. I had been taught that loving and caring for oneself was ‘selfish’. Then a light shone out of a personal tragedy [suicide] and taught me the lesson of self-love. If I didn’t take the time to love and care for myself, I couldn’t truly love anyone else. How simple it sounds and how difficult to accomplish. For me, it’s taken a lifetime.

Education and knowledge are power: I am powerful and lead my life how I choose, answering only to myself. And with that accountability I have become a better, gentler person. Without judgment [or hardly any as I am human after all], I smile when I observe another human being’s foolishness… for there go I. I keep my mouth shut when I observe someone else learning their lessons.

If asked I try not to tell the person what they should do, and what’s good for them. Rather, I share my experiences and how I resolved, or didn’t, a particular challenge.

Finally, the Universe is only waiting for me to ask for something. My Universe/God is waiting to deliver to me whatever I desire and am ready to receive. Nothing is withheld; I have only to ask with a true heart. Whether it is wisdom, gratitude, love, health, friends, money or success, it’s mine for the asking.

Sixteen years ago, after a lifetime in theatre, my heart said, ‘I want to write a play about a tragedy that was happening in the lives of some very dear friends. Maybe someday my play would give solace to other parents going through a similar ordeal.’ Today I have written 35 stage plays, two books of poetry, a series of children’s fables and a contemporary novel. The Universe delivered my heart’s desire and continues to do so every day and I am filled with gratitude.