- Choosing gratitude over complaints
- Making time to reflect on yourself
- Putting your wellbeing before others
- Standing through life’s challenges
BY NELIWE NGUBANE
EZULWINI — In a room created for women to speak about healing, one message from Minister of Information, Communications and Technology Savannah Maziya stood out: life may bring difficult seasons, but women still have the power to choose joy, gratitude and growth.
Maziya, who was the keynote speaker at the inaugural eGumeni women’s wellness gathering held at Happy Valley Hotel today, encouraged women to invest in themselves, make time for personal reflection and remain grateful despite the challenges they face.
The event, hosted by the Gogo Eswatini and S’lwane Care Foundation, brought women together under the theme “Mental Health’s Summon to All the Ladies of the Land!” for discussions, presentations, talks and collective healing.
Speaking to the women, Maziya said challenges are part of life but should not define a person’s entire journey.
“You can go through a season of challenges, ladies. It happens. You can go through a hard time. It happens. But as long as you’re above ground, you have an opportunity to make it better every single day,” she said.
GRATITUDE AS A DAILY PRACTICE
Maziya encouraged the women to develop a habit of gratitude, saying it can change the way they view their lives and circumstances.
She challenged the young women to end each day by identifying three things they are grateful for.
“Learn to say before you close your eyes every single night, name three things you are grateful for,” she said.
She encouraged the women to appreciate even what may appear to be ordinary blessings, including being alive and having access to education.
“Be grateful for your life. That you are actually able to go to school. There are children who would love to go to school but don’t have the parents to pay,” she said.
For Maziya, gratitude is not simply about appreciating material things but developing an outlook that recognises the positive aspects of life.
“Be grateful for every single blessing,” she said.
“BE SELFISH WITH YOURSELF”
Another key message from Maziya was the importance of making time for oneself.
She urged women not to become so occupied with caring for and spending time with other people that they forget to check in with themselves.
“I encourage being selfish with yourself. I encourage it. I encourage time with yourself,” she said.
Maziya said women should regularly pause and ask themselves difficult but necessary questions about their progress, finances and personal development.
“Have I done well this month? Have I done well this week? What can I do better? What’s happening with my money?” she asked.
She said such self-reflection allows people to understand themselves better by identifying their strengths and recognising areas that need improvement.
“What is strong about you? What is weak that you can strengthen about you?” she asked the women.
PUT YOURSELF FIRST BEFORE HELPING OTHERS
Using the example of an aeroplane safety procedure, Maziya explained why women should prioritise their own wellbeing before trying to carry everyone else.
She referred to the standard instruction for passengers to put on their own oxygen masks before helping others.
“It tells you you’re no good to the world until and unless you are full,” she said.
Her message was that women cannot continually give emotionally, physically and financially while neglecting their own needs.
Maziya encouraged women to recognise that caring for themselves does not mean abandoning others, but ensuring they have the strength and capacity to support those around them.
“I AM GOING TO BE HAPPY”
Maziya also reflected on challenges she has experienced in her own life and said adversity should not be allowed to take away a person’s joy.
She told the women that difficult experiences may continue to arise, but she has chosen not to allow them to break her.
“I am going to be happy whether it disturbs you. In fact, I might just be happy to disturb you,” she said.
Maziya acknowledged that she has faced challenges in different areas of her life and said there were times when she could look back and find humour in some of the situations she had experienced.
She used her personal experiences to encourage the women in the room not to measure their strength by the absence of problems.
“If they can go for her and she can stand, whatever you’re going through ain’t as big as you want,” she said.
According to Maziya, challenges do not necessarily disappear once a person becomes stronger. Instead, she said, people must learn to develop the resilience to face them without allowing them to control their lives.
“It keeps coming. It never stops. It gets worse. And the better I get, the bigger it becomes. But guess what? It’s not going to get me,” she said.
STANDING THROUGH THE HARD TIMES
Maziya’s message ultimately centred on resilience.
She told the women that they should continue standing even when circumstances become difficult and should not allow other people’s actions or opinions to determine their sense of worth.
“I’m not going to entertain it. I am going to still stand,” she said.
Her remarks connected with the central purpose of eGumeni, which seeks to create a space where women can engage openly on issues affecting their mental health, relationships, personal growth and wellbeing.
The gathering featured a range of speakers from the mental health, professional, religious, financial and women’s empowerment sectors, creating a platform for different perspectives on women’s wellness.
For the women who attended, Maziya’s address placed emphasis on something that can easily be forgotten amid the demands of everyday life: taking time to understand yourself, appreciate what you have and protect your own wellbeing.
Her closing message was simple — women may face difficult seasons, but those seasons do not have to take away their ability to find joy, grow and keep standing.
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