Perseverance

"Abraham Lincoln lost eight elections, failed at two businesses and had a nervous breakdown before becoming our 16th President. The road to success is always filled with detours, speed bumps and potholes. To minimize their impact you must be prepared, learn from your failures and accept that change is inevitable. "

This is such a great link -- I really like this, and need to incorporate some of the things found in this article into MY life. It's so important -- the whole "it's only too late if you don't start now" thing rings very true for me this morning.

http://maestro.abanet.org/trk/click?ref=zpqri74vj_0-69cx2142ax14&

Why I posted this article and quote this morning is that I really have such a desire to help women to "release their inner Bond grrl." I feel that there are (very generally) two "types" of women.

The first are the women who might be described as shy/retiring/self-effacing who don't believe that they have a Pussy Galore or Xenia Onatopp "in them." Being “liked” is immensely important to them -- perhaps to the extent that they change their personality to "match or complement" that of those they are with. I have been this person (and always refer to Julia Roberts' character in "Runaway Bride" and the scene with her testing different types of egg dishes as being very close to home for me). Before my current relationship, for whatever reason, I had a serious lack of self-worth. I would allow situations to "choose me" instead of choosing them -- not realizing what a little choice could do to my confidence, and a little control could do to my sense of security. One thing that I learned through perhaps the "school of hard knocks" is that independence doesn't mean that you have to be on your own -- just that you could.

So for these women, the Bond grrl is all about finding out what they are passionate about, and then really pursuing that. It's having real commitment to yourself, and finding out what you stand for (when no one is looking). One thing that's important, too, is not to feel guilty about that choice -- often, you can't have two things at once. Think about it -- can you have a "Soloflex body" and enjoy all the food you want? Not likely. If you love food, think of yourself as "lusty" and don't guilt out every calorie. You might not have a body like Cher...but then again, that's not even all her body, anyway (evil smile)

You need to figure out what you're passionate about -- and then decide. Don't have a "fractured consciousness" about this -- because then you can't enjoy either thing. And do what is good for you -- don't live that 'Runaway Bride' life. Remember what I've said before about Bond grrls and how they really have the interesting lives -- very specific lives, that Bond drops in on.

The other sort of woman is like my friend that I mentioned before. When asked what she did, she talked all about it -- without really "tuning in" to what was working for the other person. So where the first woman is just a huge tuning fork and doesn't resonate much of her own music -- this woman doesn't have a tuning bone in her body! There has to be a balance -- a yin and yang of all this.

And it's important to find that balance in a comfortable way for yourself.