Inspiring Lives Magazine Spring 2017: Issue 4 | Page 9
L
ife is a challenge for us all. No one gets
through unscathed. But some individuals
seem to endure more than their fair share
of pain, yet rise to levels of greatness be-
yond anyone’s wildest imaginations. How
do they do it? How do they keep going
when they have every justification to give up?
Sometimes, life’s injustices also create life’s greatest
warriors, and Nancy Oakley—owner and CEO of Nancy
O Magazine—is one of them.
Born in Thailand, the “Thai Princess” has survived
rape, moving to a new country, abuse, the loss of her
children, the murder of her sister, and three bouts of can-
cer to become the extraordinary person she always knew
she would be. Her faith in a higher power has kept her
going and keeps her believing her mission on this Earth
won’t be complete anytime soon.
“I tell everybody not to give up, to keep pushing,” Oak-
ley says. “Keep doing what you are doing. I come home
and cry, too. I just don’t let people see. Don’t give up.”
Not giving up is an understatement when it comes to
Oakley. She grew up poor in Thailand, but despite her
circumstances, she knew she was going to be someone
remarkable someday.
“I appealed to the sky that I was going to be successful
one day, and I never gave up. I knew it would happen,
and it did.”
It almost didn’t happen, though. A series of near-death
experiences plagued Oakley as young as age 10. While
in the jungle with her mother hunting for mushrooms,
she was bitten by a mosquito. Her mother tried to get her
medical attention, but sadly, hospitals in Thailand only
treat those who can afford to pay, and Nancy’s mother
could not.
Nancy’s serious condition caused her mother to think
she had passed away, but then, a kind stranger helped her
get the care she needed. “I woke up four months later in
the hospital. I learned to walk and talk again. I knew at
that time that a higher power kept me on this Earth.”
Unfortunately, just a few years after this incident, she was
raped and left for dead in the street. After she healed she
said, “I wasn’t the same. I knew God had a plan for me.”
That plan included coming to America. A 15-year-old
Oakley married and headed for the United States. Life
was anything but easy. Her husband was abusive. When
she finally was able to leave him, he did the unthink-
able, kidnapping their small children, ages two and six
months. It would be years before Oakley would ever see
them again. She was alone and homeless. Even through
that despair, she chose to move forward, never letting on
how dire her situation truly was.
“I went to church and learned English as a second lan-
guage. I worked several jobs and went to school. I earned
money by helping walk dogs. I spent money on nice
clothes so people didn’t know I was homeless. I slept at
the beach and kept money in lockers until I got an apart-
ment. I focused on what I wanted to do. It was about me
and what I wanted.”
It seems that nothing could stop her. “Either you’re
going to feel sorry for yourself or you’re going to make a
difference.”
She did make that difference. After school, she went
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