"Becoming Myself"

I recently read “Becoming Myself,” a book of short memoires written by well known, successful women from all across the United States. Topics ranged from childhood tragedies and grade school crushes to stories of inner beauty and power achieved through personal and career accomplishments.

Sally Fisher, artist and illustrator, wrote something that really struck me.  She writes, “I have learned that women are warriors who need no weapons, who can love and redefine the paradigms of war and peace, who can disarm an enemy with an embrace. Women know that food, compassion, and understanding are more powerful than bullets, bombs, and blockades.  Women understand that our own wounds- from the skinned knees and scraped elbows of childhood to the broken hearts of romance to the deep wounds of abuse and longing- can all be healed and beckon us to walk the road toward our magnificent, extraordinary, divine women selves.  The payoff for being born female.”

Her words reassure me.  They help me take solace in the fact that women hold within them something deep and influential, even when they do not think or appear to be as successful or as powerful as men.  The problem is that many women forget they have this ambition, this hunger for passion, within them.  It gets covered up, forgotten, underneath the pain and disappointment of heartbreak, adversity, and societal expectations.  

We stop searching for that passion if it is covered up long enough.  We start to think that it isn’t in God’s will for us to be someone that can accomplish life changing goals.  We settle and coast through life, contributing only what is asked or expected of us.  Why? Why don’t women try to achieve more in life?  Are we afraid that our efforts will not be commended or supported, or that they will become the butt of every joke in men’s conversations? I can’t speak for the other women out there, but that is what often stops me.

Perhaps we don’t try to achieve our full potential because of our own feelings associated with failure.  All of the pain that we have already suffered through is enough.  We don’t need to add yet another disappointment to our list.  But the thing is, if you don’t try to accomplish the unordinary than you risk not reaching you inner happiness and peace of mind.  That inner peace of mind is power. It is proof that you are good enough, that you don’t have to be or act a certain way to know that you are worthy and have a purpose.

We may risk losing a lot when we take chances, but I think women have much more to gain if they stand up and take action.  Do what you think is right, even if it conflicts with the norm.  In the long run, you’ll be glad you did.