"Be vulnerable. It is a sign of confidence and self love!"

Samar is the mother to two young girls. She recently received her master's in Counseling Psychology from the Adler School of Professional Psychology and she is currently completing her first book, "14 letters to Ms. Money".

She has made a lot changes in life from immigrating to Canada, leaving a marriage and going against religious norms. 

Samar is a survivor and I believe it is because of what she went through, that she has an incredible awareness of those around her.  I was enthralled with her life story and her reactions to her situations. She holds with herself with grace and dignity, which is something to be admired. 

Tell me about being fearless....

My background is Egyptian and Egyptian woman are not empowered in the same way that Western women are. Deciding to leave my marriage took a lot of courage in order to work through my fear and move into a better situation for my life.

For me, I had to block out all cultural norms in order to make it through the journey. I needed to resolve to a plan and stick to it.  Forget what everyone is telling you and what they want you to do and do what you know you need to do in order to succeed. That's how I worked through my fear and came to place of peace.

How do you get through fear or what do you do in order to work through it?

I meditate and use guided meditation. Sometimes some people call this faith.  When I meditate I go through a dark hole and then I have to decide to go through my journey anyway and fear based emotion take me through to the other side.

Fear is important to share and it would be wise not to act tough and share that fear with others. Ask for guidance and be vulnerable. It is a sign of confidence and self love.

As a mother I need to be a role model and I want to do something that I would tell my daughters to do. That is the strongest feeling I use in order to get through fear.

What is a pieces of advice for others in your situation?

I would say my piece of advice would be to believe in yourself or in your heart even when the going gets tough. Crumble, fall to the floor, bawl your eyes out, do it, do it all and then get up.

Be very proud of being a human being and unfortunately fear and pain are part of the experience of being human.

The Western world wants us all to be stern, super strong and never share our emotions as it is a sign of weakness. I say, do the opposite. Be vulnerable. Let yourself feel the fear and like I said before, go through it to get to the other side.

Posted by: Nicole Parmar

Photo Credit: Suzanne Rushton Photography