Recently, as I was researching information for this Blog, I came upon a headline that caught my attention. It read: “Michelle Bachelet, President and Single Mom.” At first I thought, how interesting, she must have become the president of a company or a local social club or some other small type of organization. I decided to read the full article and was very pleasantly surprised when I found out that Michelle Bachelet, President and single mother is the recently elected President of Chile! According to Wikpedia.com, Dr. Bachelet is, “Her country’s first female elected president and the first woman who was not the wife of a previous head of state or political leader to reach the presidency of a Latin American nation in a direct election.” She was elected by a majority vote of the people in her country, not appointed nor inherited this position from a family member. Did I mention that she is a single mother?
Dr. Bachelet’s mother was an anthropologist and her father was a General in the Army of Chile. The family moved around their country and even lived in the United States while her father served at the Chilean embassy. Her life as a woman in the 1970’s and 80’s trying to gain an advanced education was not always easy. In fact, she overcame some very difficult circumstance including being jailed and tortured along with her mother for their political affiliation. Her father died while undergoing torture. To top it off, the country experienced a military dictatorship until 1990, which did not allow for a high level of gender equality. Some of those effects are still evident today; Only four percent of Chile’s senators are women, and divorce was legalized only a year ago.
Eventually Dr. Bachelet became a medical doctor specializing in Pediatrics and learned to speak five languages. She always had an interest in politics. She served in several government positions before being asked to run for President in 2005. Dr. Bachelet has two adult children and one 12 year old child and has been separated for over 20 years from her husband and father of their two oldest children. She did not marry the father of her third child.
Dr. Bachelett persevered and overcame many obstacles to become the President. She has obtained the highest political office in her country, but that was not the first taste of success she experienced. This woman is no small thinker.
Small thinking is a problem for us single parents-myself included. We think small and act small, when the fact is we have within us the ability to positively affect an entire generation. We allow ourselves to be considered second best or not as valuable as others due to our non-marital status. As single parents, we may not have some of the advantage that some double parent families have, but we are hungry-hungry to make better lives for ourselves and our children-in spite of what the statistics tell us.
Opportunities for women are available in this country. It takes hard work and determination, but dare to dream and make your dreams become a reality. Create a plan and follow it. Become the woman you want to be. You don’t have to be the President of a country to achieve success-you determine what success is for you and your family. I don’t believe that achievement has to equate to the kind of success that allows us to obtain things or high positions of power. I am talking about the ability to affect change that makes a positive difference in people’s lives. Not the commercial success of looking good to feel good that is constantly crammed down our throats, but lasting change that brings the Light, and love into other peoples lives. Don’t let your singleness hinder you. Embrace it and become the person you want to be.
Listening to a song by Switchfoot called “This Is Your Life” has caused me to ask myself “Am I really who I want to be?” Some of the lyrics of this profound song are:
Yesterday is a wrinkle on your forehead
Yesterday is a promise that you’ve broken
Don’t close your eyes, don’t close your eyes
This is your life and today is all you’ve got now
Yeah, and today is all you’ll ever have
Don’t close your eyes
Don’t close your eyes
This is your life, are you who you want to be
This is your life, are you who you want to be
This is your life, is it everything you dreamed that it would be
This is your life, are you who you want to be
This is your life, is it everything you dreamed that it would be
When the world was younger and you had everything to lose
This is your life, are you who you want to be
This is your life, is it everything you dreamed it would be
So, are you who you want to be?