Empowerment a powerfull word

This past week and the weekend, has been a very busy time to me, a lot of work and family issues. I am 32 years woman, and I live with my parents, hey are getting old, and to leave them is getting more and more difficult. And so my family issues come to be now like a big responsibility especially on the weekend. I have not had any chance until tonight to check the Voices of our future week 4 assignment. I read it some minutes ago and a lot of images came to my mind, a lot of feelings to, as the articles where talking to me, telling me how I am losing my innate wisdom. It was like a slap to my face.
In the past, I used to find a lot of ways to develop my capacity to be creative and put attention in my spirituality, but since I work full time I do not have time for growing my wisdom, I do not let my feelings flow freely just because I do not feel the will to do it.

But today something happened, let me tell you what I felt today and made me think of what I am doing wrong:
I can not say that I feel totally respected as a woman in my family or in my society, and every day as many woman in the world I have to struggle with it.
Today in the morning on the bus I found a friend, who I met there on the bus. Her name is Monica and she is a very brave woman, last week she was hit by her husband because he got upset, after all the pain and humiliation, she decided to denounce it to the police. Today I lived an experience, and I think I was not brave to speak honest and with the right words. As every day I have lunch at work with my co workers, in a simple and normal conversation after lunch, one of my co workers did a commentary, that in his mind, he meant to say a joke (he said something about neurons in men and women, insulting women intelligence), I tried to tell him what a bad thing he just said (considering the fact that this men is supposed to be a open minded person) but I could not find the words to make him understand that he needs to change his mind, I just left the room, it was like loosing a battle, I was to bad, because that feeling of frustration, I have had so many times in my life.
After work, on the bus going back home, I started thinking and thinking all around this events, all the moments I have not been encouraged enough to make my voice heard, and I felt disappointed o myself.

I live in a world where it seem that everything goes ok but if you start seeing deeper there are a lot of prejudices, discrimination and inequality, and that is one face I see of it, the other faces I see are of children walking to go to school, mothers holding their babies, young people building houses for families, men working hard and supporting their families, elder telling stories of fantasy and love to their grandchildren, that makes me feel that hope is the think that is alive. And I see my self, working to help projects, designing posters, educational materials, and in my future building my dreams.

Now I understand a little bit what Empowerment means, and I want to learn more about it, I want to grow and want to be a strong woman that accepts her mistakes and recognizes her strengths. I am in love with life, and that is an advantage. Then the next step is from now on not to be shy to expresse my agrees and desagrees and thoughts. When there is a anfair situation, confront it.

I want to be Voices of Our Correspondent because I want to receive the empowerment training. I am thankful for have known about World Pulse to get to know of Women empowerment and awake the woman I am.