I had a wonderful morning sitting on the back porch in the sun reading the book "Becoming Myself." It's a wonderful collection of essays written by women from all walks of life on what it means to be a woman.
I thought I'd take a few moments to write my own perspective on that very topic.
I was born at the right time. I love the fact that as women today we don't have to be pigeon-holed. We can be wonderfully complex creatures who aren't boxed in. As I grow older, I embrace the very things that make me different. I used to think that happiness was "the dream". I thought that happiness meant you had to have a husband, children, a house, a retirement plan, and a career. But as time has gone on, I've realized that to me happiness means tapping into all the things that speak to my soul. Happiness is discovering my unique strengths and developing them to their fullest potential. Being a woman is becoming who I am meant to be, not who I "ought to be".
I love the fact that I grew up with with adventurous girls who have turned into my life-long friends. We drew pleasure from jumping ditches, climbing trees and doing cartwheels in our yards. We could have a picnic with our dolls in the garden and follow it up with bike races around the block. We could be girly girls and tomboys in the same week and it didn't matter. To this day, I feel just as pretty in a dress as I do wearing my hiking boots and climbing in the mountains. I love the empowerment that comes with being a modern woman. Today's woman can be anything she puts her mind to. She should never apologize for who she is. If a woman chooses to be a homemaker, a career woman, a working mom, a single woman - she can. We have finally gained the right to choose.
I thought I'd take a few moments to write my own perspective on that very topic.
I was born at the right time. I love the fact that as women today we don't have to be pigeon-holed. We can be wonderfully complex creatures who aren't boxed in. As I grow older, I embrace the very things that make me different. I used to think that happiness was "the dream". I thought that happiness meant you had to have a husband, children, a house, a retirement plan, and a career. But as time has gone on, I've realized that to me happiness means tapping into all the things that speak to my soul. Happiness is discovering my unique strengths and developing them to their fullest potential. Being a woman is becoming who I am meant to be, not who I "ought to be".
I love the fact that I grew up with with adventurous girls who have turned into my life-long friends. We drew pleasure from jumping ditches, climbing trees and doing cartwheels in our yards. We could have a picnic with our dolls in the garden and follow it up with bike races around the block. We could be girly girls and tomboys in the same week and it didn't matter. To this day, I feel just as pretty in a dress as I do wearing my hiking boots and climbing in the mountains. I love the empowerment that comes with being a modern woman. Today's woman can be anything she puts her mind to. She should never apologize for who she is. If a woman chooses to be a homemaker, a career woman, a working mom, a single woman - she can. We have finally gained the right to choose.
I love the fact that I have friends from all walks of life: women who champion one another and support one another in their individul pursuits of happiness. I have no time for women who waste their energy cutting one another down. Women's friendships are most empowering when we can lean on one another and lift each other on our shoulders.
Oprah always says you have "aha" moments in your life. I remember lying on a rooftop in New Orleans last year, hammering in soffits. I looked around me and realized I had truly grown as a woman. With a fear of heights and a shy disposition, being on a rooftop and surrounded by strangers on foreign soil was definitely out of my comfort zone. But in that moment, I realized that I was happy, helpful, having a laugh and learning new skills. I was doing something that my grandma never could in her day. It would have been unheard of for a woman of her era to be away from her family working on a construction site.
We've come a long way. I can't wait to see what the future holds for each of my friends. As long as we try our best with each day, and keep growing, there's no limit to what we can become. So don't worry about "doing it right" worry more about doing it your own way.
Oprah always says you have "aha" moments in your life. I remember lying on a rooftop in New Orleans last year, hammering in soffits. I looked around me and realized I had truly grown as a woman. With a fear of heights and a shy disposition, being on a rooftop and surrounded by strangers on foreign soil was definitely out of my comfort zone. But in that moment, I realized that I was happy, helpful, having a laugh and learning new skills. I was doing something that my grandma never could in her day. It would have been unheard of for a woman of her era to be away from her family working on a construction site.
We've come a long way. I can't wait to see what the future holds for each of my friends. As long as we try our best with each day, and keep growing, there's no limit to what we can become. So don't worry about "doing it right" worry more about doing it your own way.
1 comment:
hi sweets. i just love what you wrote in this excert. I love what you said about woman. you are right. we don't have to get it right everytime...we just have to live life and it's ok for us to make mistakes. i love how empowering you made us woman. i love your writing girl.xxo forbes
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