Happy Friday!
And happy (almost!) International Women’s Day!
Today, and every day, I celebrate YOU.
Even though I hope we don’t need a special day to realise how fabulous we are.
(And you know what, I don’t necessarily want to exclude the men today. I really don’t think today should be about a battle of the sexes. There are so many incredible men who have supported, encouraged, cheered us on from the sidelines, and continue to do so…)
But it is a day to recognise the incredible achievements of women, and to empower each and every one of us to continue to go after our dreams, to help us see and believe that anything and everything is possible.
There have been some incredibly brave and extraordinary women in our history that paved the way. Women who believed in the power of their dreams. Women who didn’t take no for an answer. Women who were prepared to fight for what they truly wanted. Women who really did make things happen, despite their circumstances, their age, their sex, their naysayers, their sometimes extreme battles.
We’ve come so far.
And maybe we still have a long way to go.
But I think it’s time to focus less on what we don’t have, and more on what we do have.
And moreover, less about seeking external validation, and more about realising we have all the power to achieve whatever we want within.
It’s about being brave enough to be ourselves in a world that all too often wants us to be something else.
In past blogs around this time of year, I’ve spoken about how fabulous women are. And let’s be honest, we ARE!
If we’re lucky enough, we can give birth and create new life. We are mothers, daughters, sisters, wives, aunts, girlfriends, powerful professionals, caregivers… and sometimes all at the same time. We can rock it in anything from leather pants to yoga pants, from short cocktail dresses to jeans and a tee. We have big hearts. We nurture. From suffragettes to style icons, women inspire others to fight for their rights and go after their dreams. We have vision. We come from a place of love, compassion, and caring. We put others before ourselves. We have spirit. We have grit. We are beautiful. We have the power to bond pretty profoundly with one another. We take care of each other. When we see someone crying, we sit with her and find out what’s wrong and we comfort her. We have a natural ability to look after those needing comfort, support, love, friendship. We care. We are strong and capable yet gentle and kind. We come together and help each other. We are each other’s cheerleaders. Women fill up each other’s buckets. We can roar. We are brave and vulnerable and real. We can raise society up to a higher level by making value-based choices. And we women empower other fabulous women to step into their fabulousness.
Now you may not resonate with each and every idea above, but chances are you’re feeling you deserve a good ol’ pat on the back right about now.
And you DO! So go ahead, I’ll wait.
You really are pretty amazeballs. I hope you take a moment to realize it.
But you don’t need me to tell you that, your boss to tell you that, or the world to tell you that.
And we don’t need a special day to remind us of that.
You need to KNOW that. And believe it.
However, International Women’s Day is coming up. So take a moment to celebrate YOU this weekend. And take a moment to celebrate the other special women in your life, too. Reach out and tell them what they mean to you, and express how fabulous they truly are. And then reach out to the special men in your life, and let them know what their support means to you also.
And now, some fun and inspirational quotes from some pretty fabulous ladies:
“If you obey all the rules you miss all the fun.” – Katharine Hepburn
“Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one’s courage.” – Anais Nin
“If you set out to be liked, you would be prepared to compromise on anything at any time, and you would achieve nothing.” – Margaret Thatcher
“The most important thing is to enjoy your life – to be happy – it’s all that matters.” – Audrey Hepburn
Have a FAB week, you fabulous woman (or man!)
