Wednesday, July 22, 2015

10 Ways to Become a Stronger Woman

10 Ways to Become a Stronger Woman

Over the years women have been looked upon as the fairer sex and with that came rules and guidelines for them to follow.  They were pigeon-whole to believe and regulated to certain jobs, professions and programs. 

These modern times provide the great opportunities for women to rise up and take their rightful place among the men. A seismic change has occurred in the family role and work life of American women.  Most married-couple families now have two earners, and, compared to a generation ago, many more families today are headed by a single working parent. Our institutions and culture have not fully adapted to this reality. Here's a list that could help change that when women become stronger.  The list was compiled by Maria Shriver and appears in the November 2007 issue of Fitness Magazine.  Shriver is an American journalist, activist, author of six best-selling books, and former First Lady of California as the former wife of former California Governor Arnold and organizer of the California Women's Conference.

1. Do something that scares you every day, as Eleanor Roosevelt suggested. Fear gives us wisdom. It makes us work harder than we imagined we could.

2. Eat moderately, live bountifully. Enjoy healthy foods. You want your body to last a very long time.

3. Jot down in a journal one moment a day in which you felt powerful. Share your thoughts and ideas at californiawomen.org/forum/. We can all learn from each other.

4. Get a physical every year. You are worth it. Your health is a gift.

5. Use a pedometer to track how much you move around. Challenge yourself daily to take at least 10,000 steps.

6. Serve your community at least once a year. Build a playground, tutor a child, or deliver food to a home-bound senior citizen. I know that helping others makes me feel better about myself and my purpose in life. Not sure where to begin? Check out volunteermatch.org.

7. Read The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment, by Eckhart Tolle. It’s a beautiful book that encourages us all to live in the present as a way to be happy.

8. Keep a record of tips and inspirational quotations that you can refer to each day. One of my favorite quotes, which I have on a T-shirt: “Well-behaved women rarely make history.”

9. Stay curious. Be open-minded. Ask a lot of questions and get a lot of answers. That’s information- and wisdom.

10. Pledge to “show up” in your life as yourself, not as an imitation of anyone else.