Betty White died at the age of 99…she REALLY wanted to hit three digits. She was seventeen days shy of hitting her goal when she passed away after having had a stroke. In her over sixty years in television she said a lot of wonderful things. I appreciate this quote as it is an encouragement to all of us – men and women alike – to celebrate and appreciate women. “She’s more than flesh and bone”, she reminds us. I think we need to remind ourselves of that as well.
Think about the women who have helped you become who you are today. Your mother who gave birth to you. The teacher (most likely a woman) who taught you to read. The Aunt who gave you words of wisdom somewhere along your journey. The neighbor who encouraged you as they watched you grow up. The friends, colleagues, mentors and leaders you have learned from and admired. The women you have in your life today who are helping you navigate your life. All of these women have had an incredible impact on your life, even while navigating their own.
Every woman has had trouble and tribulations, joys and monstrous successes. Be it building a family, investing in other people no matter their age, building a career and maybe even building a house. All along life’s journey every woman must face the reality of who she is AND the skills she needs to move her life forward. She must choose to stay the same or dare to grow beyond who she is currently to become who she is supposed to be for the future. Life for every woman is filled with choices and tough decisions that thrust her forward beyond where she currently thinks.
All of that requires of women to be more than flesh and bone. They must be thoughtful, strategic, kind, courageous and even selfish. They must travel life’s journey being observed and denied at the same time, without allowing the ignorance or attitudes of other to prevent them from being their true selves. No two women are alike. No two women’s journeys are alike…and hooray for that! What has impacted my life will have no intersection into the lives of the younger women in my family…and for that I give thanks. The women who went before us paved the way for our success, even while struggling to become their own true selves.
Let us give thanks and praise for the women in our lives – past, present and future. Hooray for their courage to be more than flesh and bone. Their courage to change our world and this globe into a place we are all very blessed to exist. And hooray for women who have goals to reach beyond what is thought possible.
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