‘Here’s to strong women, may we be them, may we know them, may we raise them.’
Anonymous
It’s a great quote, I love it. I have posted it and shared it myself a number of times.
And yet like all quotes, have you ever really stopped to think about what it actually means?
I am currently raising two daughters. They are only in middle primary years and yet they definitely meet the definition of strong. Let me tell you, the gap between wanting to raise a strong woman and actually raising a strong woman is a wide one!
So, what do we mean when we say we want to know strong women? I think in part we are saying we want to get around woman who challenge us. We want to get around woman who make us want to do better, or encourage us to grow.
But let’s be clear here.
These women will not be easy people to be around. They will call us out on things. They will stretch us in ways we hadn’t expected to be stretched or grow. They will challenge our thinking. They will often ask us to step up in areas we are not sure we are even ready to step into.
Sometimes these women will push our buttons. Sometimes we will see in them things we want for ourselves. On others we will see things we dislike in ourselves. It will be intimidating at times.
Let me speak plainly. If you want to be a strong woman you need to be okay with being around other strong women.
I am not afraid of strong women. I am not afraid of raising a daughter who is strong. For I believe the strength of women is a force for change on the earth. I believe that a group of women committed to standing in their strength can change communities, cities and countries.
But to do that we have to get over ourselves. We have to get over looking at the women next to us as competition and instead hold out our hands to them, and look together at the changes we can make in our world.
You need to have an attitude of always learning and growing. Even if that strong woman happens to be your own daughter.
So I say it again, here’s to strong women, may we be them, may we know them, and may we raise them,
Jodie
This is brilliant. It’s easy to share a quote but it’s extraordinarily brave to live it.
Here’s to strong women! Strong women come in many different forms and may not be loud, or obviously strong, sometimes they’re just the ones who are still standing despite the things that come against them.