These are women that do not appear on the front pages of the newspaper. However, they are inspiring women who have much to say about the challenges of the 21st century.
Tiziana was almost fired from the bank where she worked because she became pregnant for the second time. She managed to change her bosses' mentality thanks to small gestures, patience, a lot of work, and after suffering a lot in silence.
Isabel Sánchez tells this and 79 other stories in her book, 'Women compasses in a forest of challenges,' which is written in Spanish. She writes about women that changed the dynamics of their hostile environments. A guide that helps look at life with optimism.
ISABEL SÁNCHEZ
Author, “Women compasses in a forest of challenges”
'We need to love the world passionately, to embrace those challenges that we all have. Obstacles that can seem very big, and we have to 'make them small.' We have to put them in the living room of our house. Who can help us with that, who can guide us? Well, real stories. Women who are 'compasses,' but also flesh and blood, can tell us about these challenges. They tell us their story and how they reacted in their experiences.'
Isabel Sánchez collects stories of achievement and audacity, but also forgiveness. This is the case of a mother of children who managed to forgive her husband after abandoning her for years. Or the story of Anna, from Sydney, who was given the worst possible news.
“They gave me a time limit of 12 months to live and it just shook me in to the bone”
Anna had to deal with the trauma and face the last stage of her life with courage. She had three children.
Isabel Sanchez chose to tell stories of ordinary but exemplary women; of fragile people who do not follow the habit of complaining and offer solutions to today's world's challenges. They would be the 'normal influencers.' She says they are the medicine against the myth of believing to be self-sufficient and the basis for creating a world of solidarity.
ISABEL SÁNCHEZ
Author, “Women compasses in a forest of challenges”
“We need to accept our own limits, our defects, and accept those of others. It seems to me that this is solidarity; to embrace each other as we are. It seems to me that we are raised in a culture where the image comes first. We want to continually correct the imperfections, not to be noticed, to cover them up, not to be seen, and in the end, this makes us anxious.”
Isabel Sánchez has been able to gather these stories thanks to her travels in over 50 countries. She heads the council of women who advise the Prelate of Opus Dei. Her work has taken her all over the world to learn how the women from this institution have implanted their charism of holiness in their ordinary lives in each country.
Javier Romero
Translation: Christian Campos
