I see and hear that Women do not feel heard. They claim that they do not have rights. I can understand why at times you feel that way. There are situations when each of us may not feel heard either, whether it is on Women's Rights or something else.
You want love. You want acceptance. You want connection. You want to be heard. You want to be understood. You want justice. You want diversity. You want equality. You want freedom. You want solidarity. You want change. You want to be strong. You want to rise. You want to be acknowledged as a Woman.
Today, I ask you to think about what you really want. I ask you to consider how your actions are bringing about those things that matter so deeply to you.
I ask you to be a woman of class. To make a difference in a way that makes a bigger impact then doing a Women's March, stating you are for all, but excluding those that support Pro-Life, and leaving your signage on the sidewalk as if it is someone else's duty to pick up after you. I ask you to use your voice in a way that is loving, kind, doesn't retaliate in the same method of our current President.
You are a woman of value. You are a woman of significance. You are heard and will be heard. You are understood. You are equal. You are strong. Not because of a Women's March to demonstrate it, but because God created you this way. He hears you. He understands you. He made you. No matter if you feel you haven't been heard, by me or anyone else, or the law doesn't give you the same rights you feel you deserve, you are still worthy and loved. Just as you are! Nobody or no thing can take that from you.
As the events unfolded yesterday for the Women's March that were being held around the world...I stopped and asked the question: What does a march do to create change and actually solve a problem? What constructive comes from showing what you disagree with, instead of putting efforts into what you do agree with? How do you feel you are creating the world you desperately want?
We get what we focus on.
If we want love, we need to give love. If you want acceptance, you have to give acceptance. If you want connection, you have to give connection. If we want to be heard, we have to listen to others. If you want to be understood, you have to seek to understand first. If you want justice, you have to give justice. If you want diversity, you have to accept those different then you. If you want equality, you have to give equality. If you want freedom, you have to give and live in freedom. If you want solidarity, you have to give solidarity. If you want change, you have to be accepting of change and be willing to create change. If you want to be strong, you have to practice strength. If you want to rise, you have to be willing to stand up. If you want to be acknowledged as a Woman, you need to act like a Woman of Class to treated like one.
I reflect on the number of hours and efforts that were put into organizing a Women's March, verses what it would have taken to actually do something to train girls turning into women of strength, dignity and kindness? Giving them skills to be better individuals? What if we took the things we wanted to see changed and did something more then walk down a street with a sign stating our beliefs, with tough messages, and got involved in a way to make a difference? What if we addressed the issues in a more sensible and professional way? What if we were grateful for all the rights we do have instead of being focused on the things we feel are lacking? What if we didn't attack our 45th President on his 1st day in office? What if we gave him a chance to show what he is going to do instead of living in fear that the Women's Rights we do have are all going to be taken away? What if we believed that he hasn't been abusive to his wife and daughters and chose to let his tough shell from the presidential campaign subside and let the next steps unfold? What if we were kind and respectful in sharing how we didn't feel we were being heard?
Yes, I hear you. President Trump hasn't been kind to women. Does that give you the right to retaliate in this manner? Do you think you have won this battle when you approach trying to resolve conflict by using this method? Do you feel you were loving and considerate by saying and doing the things you did in your Women's March?
Yes, I am aware that there are aspects of Women's Rights that are lacking and need some attention. As a Woman, just like you, I don't always get treated equally, I have not been paid the same as a man, and I want to be spoken of respectfully. But is life really about my rights or the service I do to and for others? Is it about my rights or is it about showing love to a man who hasn't been kind to women? Is it about how many women ban together in a march or is it about the legacy I can leave by creating a ripple effect in those lives around me?
I stop and think about how our founding fathers started this country. They took action. They didn't make hoopla about policies and things they didn't like, they went to work and made change happen. Yes, there have been Boston Tea Parties, MLK Marches, Civil Rights Marches, and others. But the truest impact is in action, not marches. Not in boycotting and attacking the things you do not like. But by showing support for the things that have made our country great and going all in to make a difference when and where you can.
I think of Rosa Parks, she quietly sat on the bus and expressed her views and stood up and told the world she wouldn't quit. She made a difference and created more impact in living her own life, then Madonna did shouting F Bombs from the microphone in front of the White House.
There are times change needs to be done with the masses to achieve results, and maybe you felt you were accomplishing this, I am not trying to tell you that you are right or wrong, I am asking you to think. I know that there are times greater change is done not with the masses. Maybe you could make more of an impact in different ways. Maybe just in the little girl next door that needs a mother figure because her parents are divorced. Maybe with the teenage daughter of your boss that doesn't have hope and has attempted suicide more then once. Maybe just the struggling check out clerk whose is on her first day at the job and said to you I am so stupid, and now you have the opportunity to speak words of love and affirmation over her. Maybe in the struggling mother of two children, trying to earn a living, figure out her passion, and needing help making a resume or mentoring her to be able to navigate basic living decisions. Maybe in the coworker fighting cancer.
Don't let fear make you live your life doing and saying things you will regret. Come from a vision about who you want to be and how you want to live. Women's Rights have come a long way. I have no doubt more changes will come ahead to improve areas that need work. But stooping to someone else's level of trash talk won't feed love. Not including everyone when you say you are for everyone is hypocrisy. Leaving your trash around the world isn't responsible or kind. Marching 1 Day after a new president took office is not respectful or considerate.
I am not encouraging you to not express how you feel or to not make change in the world. If you know me at all, I value connection and authentic conversations. I simply am encouraging you to think about how you do it and to make a greater impact. To be different then the masses. To live from a heart of love, not blame, not accusations, not threats, not fear.
Will you be different and go make an impact in someone's life? Will you be constructive in how you create change? Will you quit focusing on what you do not have and be grateful for what you do have? What if you marched like a Woman of Faith?
#TheSassyVoice #BeDifferent #ADifferentPerspective #ThePowerOfChoice #WomensRights #WomensMarch #YouMatter
