Hardly a day goes by living here in South Florida that I am not amazed and in awe of the incredible creations put in front of us, thanks to Mother Nature. While I absolutely love the great outdoors, I’m not a big fan of creatures that creep and crawl, hop (like toads and frogs), or insects. I am close friends with my exterminator.
However, I have a newfound appreciation for the dragonfly, thanks to a stellar group of women who devote a great deal of their time and energy to strengthen, uplift and empower others.
This month I was proud and honored to serve as facilitator for the 2012 BB&T Dragonfly DarlingsWomen’s Conference, presented by the Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention & Visitors Bureau. I am truly blessed to be able to take part in such wonderful events!
Women of all ages, backgrounds and walks of life gathered for the daylong event which focused on health and wellness, breast cancer awareness, positive approaches to life and identifying strategies to enhance life/work balance. As we shared professional and personal stories of challenges and triumphs, (the crowd seemed to love my personal exploration of life and relationships of www.highwaytoahusband. com) there was laughter, tears and LOTS of hugs and powerful networking taking place.
For those of you who are not familiar, The Dragonfly Darlings are the women’s auxiliary group of the Russell Life Skills Reading Foundation. Lysandra Russell, wife of South Florida athlete Twan Russell and compassionate community philanthropist, heads up this amazing group of women dedicated to inspiring women to come together to assist and uplift one another, REGARDLESS of our varying backgrounds. The afternoon was all about educating each other on important health issues that affect women and ultimately their families, building a stronger SISTERHOOD within the community.
And where does the dragonfly come into all of this? Well, turns out women are a lot like dragonflies, constantly moving in all directions to keep ourselves and our families moving forward. Dragonflies have the ability to move in six directions, up to 45 miles an hour. Did you know the dragonfly uses almost 80% of its brainpower for sight – they can see in all 360 degrees around itself. Now if that doesn’t seem like an inherent skill of a woman – to juggle 50 million aspects of life at once and to always seem to know what’s happening with her career, her colleagues, her spouse, her children, her parents, her friends and even sometimes passer-byes in Publix… then I don’t know what is!
Strength. Power. Poise. Us women have it all! Congratulations to the Dragonfly Darlings for identifying a need in our community, then creating a solution to address the issues facing women all across South Florida. I can’t wait until next year!
A multiple Emmy-Award winning Anchor and Reporter, Julia Yarbough is a national blogger, motivational speaker, emcee/hostess, entrepreneur, travel writer and health & fitness enthusiast.
Follow Julia’s reality-blog at www.highwaytoahusband.com. To have Julia appear at your next event, contact info@juliayarboughmediagroup.com.
