LIHUE — Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard remembers a time when she had the most introverted personality out of five brothers and sisters. “My sister, who’s two years younger than me, was the complete opposite of me — complete extrovert, always running
LIHUE — Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard remembers a time when she had the most introverted personality out of five brothers and sisters.
“My sister, who’s two years younger than me, was the complete opposite of me — complete extrovert, always running out and meeting new people, and kind of the social butterfly — so I made her do all of the talking,” Gabbard recalled. “At the grocery store, I would tell her, ‘Eh, go ask them if they have more milk in the back,’ or, ‘Go ask how much this is.’ I wasn’t interested in talking to people at all and I was totally OK with that.”
So knocking on thousands of doors and calling thousands of people during her first campaign for public office — a seat in the state House — was no easy task, said Gabbard.
But she ended up knocking on many doors, and eventually, clenched that House seat in 2002, which she held for one term before being deployed with her Hawaii National Guard unit to Iraq in 2004.
The lesson she learned from that experience, as well as her run for Congress in 2012, was simple: obstacles can be overcome “when you’re motivated at your core with a desire to be of service — to stand up and be a servant leader.”
It was a message she shared on Wednesday with more than 70 people who gathered under cloudy skies at Kauai Museum to honor her accomplishments as a part of this year’s Women of Inspiration event, hosted by the Kauai County Committee on the Status of Women.
“You may end up with the outcome that you set out to achieve or you may not. You may end up walking down a completely different path — one that had never crossed your mind before,” said Gabbard, who became the first American Samoan and Hindu member in Congress when she took the oath of office in 2013. “All of these things are made possible when we’re not attached too much to a specific thing, but always remain focused on why we do what we do.”
During her 30-minute speech, she spoke of how heroic individuals inspire her every day, such as Sgt. Leigh Ann Hester, the first woman since World War II to earn the Silver Star, and 15-year-old Princeville resident Talia Abrams, the originator of a bill to establish a community food forest program.
“Some the greatest things have happened through some of the most challenging conditions, but when we look back in history and at people in our own lives, who we admire today, these are people who have demonstrated that courage through their commitment to service,” she said.
Lihue resident Patricia Wistinghausen said she enjoyed Gabbard’s speech because it highlighted an important message everyone should hear.
“I think the key is moving forward and not letting everybody who wants to say, ‘Oh, you can’t do this and you can’t do that.’” Wistinghausen said. “You need to find a way to make it happen.”
• Darin Moriki, county government reporter, can be reached at 245-0428 or dmoriki@thegardenisland.com. Follow him on Twitter at @darinmoriki.
