Her life belonges to her

Introduction

Once upon a time, there were women who believed the world was bigger than their dreams.
They thought their voices were too soft, their hearts too small, their courage too hidden.

But magic lives inside every woman.
It waits quietly, like a seed beneath the soil,
until one day, it bursts into light.

This is not a story of riches or crowns.
It is a fairytale of the heart.
It is a fairytale of courage.
It is a fairytale of rising.

Within these pages, you will see yourself—
the little girl who thought she was "just a girl,"
the woman who doubts and fears,
and the woman who learns she can rise,
who learns she can give, who learns she is enough.

Open this book with your heart.
Read it slowly.
Let the words reach the corners of your mind that have been quiet too long.
And remember always:

Your life belongs to you.

—By Lubnah Y Abdullahi

Chapter One: To the Woman Who Is Awakening

There comes a moment
in every woman's life
when the noise of the world fades
and she finally hears herself.

(Is this what it feels like to wake up?)

A moment
when she feels the weight of her own heart,
the quiet strength in her hands,
the fire in her mind.

(I didn't know I was this strong.)

When life has tried
to tell her who she should be,
and for the first time
she pauses...
and realizes—

she belongs to herself.

(I belong to me.)

⸻

You have been told to wait.
To be patient.
To be quiet.

You have been told
your dreams must wait,
your voice must wait,
your life must wait.

(Why does my life always feel on hold?)

But here...
right here...
you are learning a truth
no one can take from you:

Your life is yours.

(Say it again. Slowly.)

Even if the world
has tried to decide for you,
even if paths were chosen
without your heart being asked,
even if doors were closed
before your hands reached them—

you are still here.

(I survived.)

⸻

This is how a woman awakens.

Not loudly.
Not angrily.
But quietly...
softly...
deep inside her chest.

(Something is changing in me.)

With a simple recognition:

I am here.
I am real.
I am capable.
I am enough.

(I have always been enough.)

⸻

Feel the fire in your chest.
It's been there all along.

Feel the strength in your hands.
Even when they were shaking.

Feel the courage
rising slowly inside you.

(I can feel it now.)

There will be nights
when you sit alone in your room,
the world asleep,
your heart wide awake.