This past weekend was the DVD release of the final Harry Potter film, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows II. Having not seen it in theaters the kids and I were very excited to run and purchase the DVD first thing Friday morning and curl up that evening with popcorn and blankets to watch the final installment. It was all that we had hoped for and expected (after reading the book of course) and over the course of the weekend it got me thinking about J.K. Rowling. Rowling is a woman who has inspired me in spades throughout my adult life. And she continues to today.

I can’t help but be inspired by women, like Rowling, who come from nothing and work their butts off to turn that nothing into something. I also believe in magic and I firmly believe that any woman who is able to pull herself out of a bad relationship, bad job, bad financial situation or any other bad place in life, is nothing short of magical.

Hard work is magic. Imagination, determination and believing in yourself are things that are magical to me. So of course the first time I read about the life of J.K. Rowling I found myself fighting tears.

Here is a woman who found the strength to take her infant and leave a bad marriage. She managed to survive while living in poverty. She found work, took care of her daughter and struggled. She is every one of us who has ever found ourselves a million miles away from where we thought we would end up in life.

Yet J.K. Rowling knew she had the power to pull herself out of her situation, all she had to do was sit down and begin writing. And she eventually wrote herself into the hearts of kids and parents across the globe.

Here is a woman who went from losing her mother, battling depression, escaping an abusive marriage, raising a baby, and surviving on welfare to becoming one of the most powerful and richest women in the world. In less than a decade.

It may sound silly but when I feel uninspired, down on myself for any reason, or just have one of those days that I feel like I can’t do anything right. I go downstairs where all our Harry Potter books sit happily in a bookshelf. I run my fingers across each spine and I see the name, J.K. Rowling on each one. And I wonder what would’ve happened if she had ever given in to those days?

But she didn’t. And neither do I. And neither should you. Just remember amazing inspiring SheHeroes are everywhere and you never have to look very far to find one. Sometimes just a quick glance on the bookshelf is all it takes to remember all of us have magic within us and the ability to survive anything.

Do you have a SheHero that inspires you?