known as the anthem for women. I didn't understand what feminism meant at that time, but I knew I liked some of the words of the song… And I still do today.
Ive attached a video at the bottom of this post, in case you're not familiar with this song. However, if you were alive during the 70s you'd have to have been living under a rock never heard of the song. It was that big of a hit.
I remember seeing an interview on a talk show with Helen Reddy and she performed her hit song "I am Woman" with one very obvious change. She left out the words "I am invincible". When the interviewer asked her about that she said it was due to a recent battle with cancer and she said she was faced with the reality that she's not invincible. I recently read that she has been moved into an assisted living apartment due to early onset dementia.
Like Helen, I realize that I'm not invincible. However, these past several years I have learned I am stronger than I've ever given myself credit for. Here are the lyrics that I really relate to, and why:
I know too much to go back and pretend ~ I used to love being independent and thrived on not "needing" help from anyone...even my husband, but now I realize that everyone needs help at some point in time. I've also learned that not all doctors possess compassion and caring.
You can bend but never break me, 'cause it only serves to make me more determined to achieve my final goal ~ I do believe that Satan is the one who keeps throwing these illnesses, diseases, and ailments my way to see if I really will stay strong in my faith, which has backfired for him because my faith has only become stronger. My final goal is, and will always be, Heaven.
And I've been down there on the floor, no one's ever gonna keep me down again ~ this one makes me do a fist pump into the air, because I've had so many doctors who have treated me that way, by excusing me and/or passing me off to a different Doctor so they would be done with me.
I am wise, but it is wisdom born of pain ~ I have learned many lessons during these years I've been forced to endure. I've learned things I never would've learned without this journey. I just wish it didn't have to hurt so much to learn those lessons, but then again I am pretty stubborn, so perhaps this is the only way I would've learned what I need to.
Yes, I've paid the price, but look how much I gained ~ A stronger faith, an even closer bond with my husband, pride in my children as they have stepped up to help, new friends, and a new respect for the little things in life.
God bless you Helen Reddy, and thank you for a song that inspires me. It may not be in the way you intended, but it has inspired me just the same.
