International Women's Day: On Endurance and Resilience

Today's International Women's Day is set aside to celebrate and work toward a more balanced world with gender equality.

A balanced world is a better world. How can you help forge a more gender-balanced world?
Celebrate women's achievement. Raise awareness against bias. Take action for equality.

I grew up in a family where girls and women were considered less than their male counterparts. In addition to being devalued, I was the target for my father's alcoholic rages having endured every imaginable kind of abuse there was. I was silenced and my life was threatened on numerous occasions. Yet, I harnessed and honed the power of my intellect until it was time to heal from the trauma and the effects of childhood paralytic polio.

The diagnosis of a progressive neuromuscular disease, Post-Polio Syndrome, was my wake up call in December of 2006. In February of 2007, I got still and asked for Divine Guidance.

My pen became my divining rod for healing as I discovered the gift of poetry in my soul.

Two powerful poems from the voice I almost literally and figuratively lost:

A New Lease on Life

Rented space
rendered apart
plundered
what God has wrought
let no man put asunder.

Old wallpaper stripped
plumbing purged
once a trickle now flows
flickering lamps rewired
no longer dim
light bathes this old house.

Owner occupied
she smiles
sitting on the porch swing
butterflies dance

In a moment of unbridled joy
barefoot and free
they become One.

The Chrysalis

Trembling with excitement
shaking it off
allow yourself to be with a capital B

Being who you were always meant to be
unencumbered

yet time well spent
on tiny legs
grounded to earth’s energy
garnering wisdom along the way

gathering together
possibility

a time of uncertainty
certain
this is the path
abide in darkness
surrender
lose grip on grasping
turning inward
discovering beauty
strength
free now
to
fly

Speech and swallowing were affected by the initial polio virus and became more of a challenge as I aged. But I was able to reverse the once devastating effects of polio and trauma through self love, gratitude, meditation, visualization and the power of poetry!

I continue to be in awe of my body's capacity for healing and resilience. As life stressors bear down on me, old wounds that weren't completely healed reopen BUT with awareness, self care, chiropractic care, and feeling my worthiness to no longer suffer with the pain of the past, I continue to heal in new and miraculous ways.

It's a miracle that I made it out of my childhood and adolescence alive. I transformed what I had to endure into the glory of running the 2009 Boston Marathon after being told I'd spend the rest of my life in a wheelchair and went on to have many many more running adventures. After a serious knee injury in December of 2014, I was told to stop running and that I should have never started running in the first place given my history of paralytic polio. Every time somebody said I couldn't or shouldn't, I turned around and said watch me now.

Here.I.am. and I am here to inspire other women to feel their strength - their invincibility - and to fly free whatever the challenge.

Happy International Women's Day!

To your health and wellness,
From my heart to yours
Mary

Be sure to visit my website by following this link.

My books are available on Amazon.



“The Adventures of Runnergirl 1953” takes you on Mary McManus’ healing odyssey from a wheelchair to the finish line of the 2009 Boston Marathon and beyond. After the diagnosis of Post-Polio Syndrome in December 2006, Mary got still and asked for Divine Guidance tapping into the powerful connection she experienced to the Divine from an early age. She harnessed the power of her mind to heal her body, feverishly writing poetry in which she imagined herself healthy, whole and free from the shackles of her youth. Mary’s quest to heal her life led her to the sport of running. Her story is one that will leave you cheering for the underdog, discovering the meaning of different ability and experiencing the stunning view from the back of the pack of a race. You will have the privilege of bearing witness to how Mary overcame every challenge that life presented to her. The sport of running provides the backdrop for her journey of transformation from a survivor of childhood paralytic polio and severe trauma at the hands of family members to a woman who embodies faith, grace under fire, courage, determination, endurance and resilience. Running became a way of life for Mary that tested her mettle while forging friendships to last a lifetime. As you’ll discover in “The Adventures of Runnergirl 1953” nothing, not even a serious knee injury in December of 2014 could stop her on the roads or in her life.

Feel the Heal: An Anthology of Poems to Heal Your Life


Coming Home: A Memoir of Healing Hope and Possibility that chronicles the first 7 years of my healing journey:


Going the Distance: The Power of Endurance (With a Foreword by Jacqueline Hansen):


My healing journey using the power of visualization is featured in David R. Hamilton's book, "How Your Mind Can Heal Your Body-Anniversary Edition." It's available on Amazon.