Today is International Women's Day - a day to celebrate the social, economic, cultural and political achievement of the female gender. Truth is, we’ve made history. For centuries we’ve been told that we can’t. Religious and cultural language have been used to hold us back, force us down, keep us quiet and enslave us to our male counterparts when really it should have been used to free us, empower, release and restore us.Throughout history there have been those who stood up and helped steer the tide in the opposite direction, back to the way it was always intended to flow.Their desire for freedom was greater than their fear of being defeated. I’m reminded today of this history that I now stand on as I celebrate, post, like and share quotes, images and videos for #internationalwomensday. I will never know the struggles that my ancestors bore but I am forever thankful for their fight.‘Sisterhood’ didn’t just begin because someone came up with a cool word, pretty branding, and a definition that makes you want to join in. It began way before there was even a word to define. A group of sisters, female friends, who chose one another regardless of bloodline, and championed their hearts and their dreams. It began with choosing love over difference or fear, over comparison or misunderstanding, over judgement or hate.It’s hard though sometimes to love people even when we share the same gender and I’ve found that, as women, we can often find each other the hardest to embrace.Have you ever felt judged by another woman?Have you ever felt misunderstood or shut down? Not cool or pretty enough to be included? Have you ever compared yourself to another woman or had someone compare themselves to you?Have you ever felt hurt or betrayed by a friend that you trusted?Unfortunately, I think we would all answer ‘yes’ to at least one of those questions.I have definitely felt all of those things, and there are still times when an interaction with a woman who is meant to love me can leave me pained, but I no longer hold on to those wounding words or actions as a means to prevent me from loving, or hold me back from relationship. The cost of shutting down and shutting out is too high a price for me. Joy is found in the midst of relationship, so when we compare ourselves to our sisters we are in effect stealing one another’s joy and holding each other back from the fullness of freedom. Like the history makers before us, we can be ones who continue to say no to the abusive and controlling language of others - regardless of which gender it is flowing from.We can be ones who continue to turn the tide and build a sisterhood that is safe, restorative, loving and kind, that welcomes every woman regardless of her race or background or intelligence, and seeks above all to ‘do unto others as you would have them do unto you.’So today I feel reinvigorated to love my sisters well, to make space for them and really see them, to let go of records of wrongs and reconcile, to celebrate their differences, to champion their passions and cheerlead them on their journey, to be a voice of love and truth in their lives.As women we are not better than men but we are definitely equal, and when we unite we are unstoppable! [embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RTezIzJW1No[/embed]
What Happens When We Stop Comparing
